Blue Submarine No 6: The Atlantic War
by EldritchNexus
Summary: Set several months after Zorndyke's death, A Musuca washes ashore in Florida, the latest victim of an unknown foe that has been attacking Zorndyke's creatures. A local mercenary group stumbles across the lone survivor of the attack, and must uncover the mystery of this new threat.
1. The Musuca

Disclaimer: This story was written weeks before Hurricane Irma, so any similarities to it are coincidental.

Comments and criticism are welcome, but please don't be toxic/harmful.

* * *

Cyrus Legoria was laying on his bed, in his ramshackle bedroom. A dusty old boom box at the foot of his bed was playing Alphaville's "Next Generation", and the air outside was thick with the cawing of seabirds and the crashing of waves against metal, wood, and concrete. Cyrus was still recovering from his hangover from last night. He was unable to remember who challenged him to that drinking game, but he knew the other guy won. Fortunately, he had a friend bring him back home; he couldn't bear to rest at the bar.

Cyrus was a man of thirty-seven. He was wearing torn black pants, knee-pads, brown boots, fingerless gloves, a dark brown leather vest with "M.P.D." written on the back, and a pale blue collared shirt with short sleeves underneath. The shirt had a circular patch on the shoulder, reading "The City of Miami" at the top, "Police" at the bottom, and the image of a palm tree and the words "Incorporated 1896" in the middle. He had shaggy dirty blond hair, a rugged face with dark green eyes, and a long, thin scar on his left cheek, which he received during a raid by Caribbean mercenaries. Cyrus always kept a Browning Hi-Power holstered on his belt in case they ever came back.

Cyrus climbed out of bed, and looked out the window. He saw Miami Beach, or what was left of it. His bedroom was on the twenty-ninth floor of the Ocean's Rest Hotel & Resort. The first twenty-three floors were submerged beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, so the only way out of the building without swimming through multiple fathoms of seawater was a either a series of narrow walkways starting from the twenty-fourth floor or a makeshift ramp extending from the twenty-fifth floor landing of the hotel's fire escape to the roof of a nearby pawnshop, which was almost completely drowned by the sea.

A slightly battered police boat was docked near the pawnshop's roof. This was Cyrus' main, if not sole, form of transportation in and out of the area. Only a few people dared to still live in this part of the city. Not only because of the sea slowly rising up to consume the buildings, but also because of the attacks that had been launched against Miami in the past couple years. Pirates, marauders, killer sharks (there were many around those parts), and the sea-creatures of Professor Zorndyke.

There was a knock on the door behind Cyrus.

"Come in!" he called over his shoulder.

The door opened, and a tall Black man wearing an unbuttoned orange Hawaiian shirt, a muddy tank top, sea-drenched khakis and velcro sandals walked inside. He had a slim build, and long dreadlocks that were tied back behind his head.

"Trey." Cyrus chuckled unevenly, as he turned to face his guest. "So how've you been doing?"

"Damn good, Cy." said Trey. "But I gotta say...you look like crap."

"I've looked worse." groaned Cyrus, fingering the gash on his cheek. "So what's up?"

Trey sighed.

"Listen, I think we got a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"A big-ass Type-Z problem. Rockefeller told me that one of 'em Musucas just washed ashore on an isle just South of here, in the Keys. It might've had passengers. I say we better check it out in case any survivors come this way."

Musucas were the gigantic whale-like creatures that served as the vessels of Zorndyke's navy. They were known for their ability to fire sonic blasts at enemy ships. They could also transport up to a dozen Kumos, the crustacean-like mechs that Zorndyke's creatures used in combat. Except they hadn't been seen in this part of the world in months. Not since the Antarctic War from seven months ago.

"A Musuca, huh?" Cyrus mumbled. "Well, we better check it out. Where's Rockefeller now? Maybe he could give us a lift."

"He's out on patrol with Rick." said Trey. "Can you get the boat started?"

"Yeah, yeah." mumbled Cyrus.

He reached under his bed, and pulled out an Ingram MAC-11 and an Heckler & Koch MP5, giving the latter to Trey. Trey loaded and cocked it, while Cyrus did the same with his own firearm.

"So is it just the two of us?" asked Cyrus.

"Yeah." said Trey. "The others are too busy partying their asses off downtown."

"Then we'll have to make this quick." said Cyrus. "The less time we're in the Keys, the better. Especially with what's waiting for us out there."

The two went downstairs, got onto the police boat, and sped down the flooded beach. The wind was chilly and blowing in their hair, and the sky was a vibrant blue color. They went on until they were out of Miami's city limits. They looked back at the ruined city, reflecting on how much it had changed since Zorndyke flooded it. This wouldn't be the first time they thought about this, nor would it be the last.

After a few hours, they were finally in the Florida Keys. By the time they reached the Musuca, the Sun was already sinking westwards. The great leviathan of the sea lay a torn, bloody mess across the shore. Its gray bulk was the size of a battleship, and its flippers and tail were reaching into the water.

"Wow…" Trey muttered. "What happened here?"

"Dunno." said Cyrus. "Let's check to see if any of the passengers made it."

The two men approached the Musuca's vast carcass, and towards the crevices in the sides of its body.

"Look!" Trey shouted, pointing his submachine gun near the top of the Musuca.

A bestial figure was crawling out of it, audibly gasping for air. It staggered to stand upright, but collapsed and slid down the Musuca to the shore. It hit the ground with a sickening crack.

Trey walked up to it, still aiming his gun. The creature was a large humanoid, muscular and covered in white fur. It had a body like a polar bear, a head like a gorilla, and orange cat eyes. By the time Trey came within arm's reach of it, the beast-man was no longer moving.

"It's dead." said Trey, mumbling. "Damn, what an ugly piece of-"

He heard a sound. There was movement above him; Another figure darted out of the Musuca on all fours.

"Contact!" Trey hollered, aiming his gun at it.

He fired a few shots at it, before Cyrus hurriedly grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Stop!" he yelled over the gunfire. "Don't…don't shoot it!"

Cyrus tugged him away, and Trey stopped shooting.

"Who the hell cares if I kill it or not? Last time they were in Florida, they were doing the same to _us_!"

"Because if you kill it, we won't know what happened here." growled Cyrus. "There's something very screwed-up about all this. I'm going to try and find where the creature went. You look for any other survivors. And for the love of Christ, don't go blasting any of them unless they attack you first."

"Whatever." Trey scoffed.

Cyrus looked out into the shade of the Musuca's husk, and saw two points of red light looking right at him. Cyrus drew out his own gun, and approached the Musuca. Trey went around the other side, waving his gun around. He didn't hear anything except for his own feet crunching against the sand and the waves crashing against the shore.

He looked at the Musuca and remembered the last time he saw one. He closed his eyes, and started to sweat. He sniffed the air, and it was absolutely rancid. Then he heard a sound. This time, it came from his left. From the water.

"…the hell is that?"

Cyrus searched the sand around the Musuca. As he walked, he heard groaning noises. He looked around uneasily for the source of the noises. Just then, a scaly arm rose from under the sand, and seized Cyrus by the ankle. A reptilian head followed soon after.

"Help me…" moaned the lizard-man.

"What happened here?" Cyrus asked him, even as he pulled his leg out of the creature's grasp.

"They came…from...above." the creature answered.

"Who did?" Cyrus asked.

The lizard-man made no response. Cyrus quickly tried digging him out of the sand.

"Who did?! Who... _damn it_!"

The creature was dead, just like the first.

"Oh, for God's sake!" growled Cyrus.

He looked around.

"Is there anyone left alive?" he shouted at the sky. " _Anything left at all?!_ "

He continued looking around. Night had finally fallen. He had just about given up when he heard a strange noise, like an eerie song being sung by a woman. The noise came from the spot where the lizard-man lay half-buried in the sand. Cyrus went back to the spot with his gun out.

Suddenly, the two red lights re-appeared just a few feet before him. Now Cyrus could see that the lights were eyes, and that they belonged to a small, slim figure that was kneeling down over the lizard-man's corpse. It lifted its knees out of the sand, and turned to leave.

"Wait! Don't go!" said Cyrus.

The stranger stayed put, but didn't change direction.

"Please come here."

The stranger shook its head.

"I'm not gonna hurt you. I only want to-."

It slowly crept away some more. Cyrus started to follow.

"What...happened here?" he asked. "Who attacked you?"

The red-eyed stranger said nothing.

"What happened here?" Cyrus asked again. "C'mon!"

The stranger sharply turned its head towards the Musuca, and footsteps could be heard. The stranger darted away into the gloom with a small hiss.

"Hey! Wait!" Cyrus yelled after it. "Get back here! Please! I just wanna talk to you!"

But it was too late. The stranger disappeared. Cyrus saw the silhouette of Trey sprinting towards him.

"Cyrus! Cyrus!" Trey yelled.

"What?" Cyrus replied, still looking in the dark for the strange creature.

"We got company."

"Walsh?"

"No." said Trey. "Armando's boys."

Cyrus swore under his breath.

"How many?"

"Twenty or thirty." said Trey. "And they're all armed to the teeth."

"Then we better get out of here!"

Armando was a high-ranking member of the Riptides, one of the many bands of marauders that ravaged the Gulf region of the United States. The Riptides in particular were not only the most numerous and well-armed, but also the most hostile. Cyrus heard rumors that they were plotting to invade Miami soon. They were surely their scouts.

"Check it out!" they heard a voice yell from around the corner. "I think it's our lucky day, boys! Let's see if Moby Dick here's got something worthwhile."

"Spread out!" said another voice. "We don't want anyone getting in our way. And check for survivors, too."

Cyrus and Trey crept back towards the police boat under the cover of darkness. The beach was now infested with men armed with assault rifles and machine guns, all with flashlights mounted on the barrels. Three gunboats were beached, while five or six others were waiting just off the shore, and there were already four men at the police boat, searching it for cargo.

"Damn!" Trey muttered. "Guess we should get back to the Musuca."

"Wait..." said Cyrus. "Look!"

Two of the men were dragging what appeared to be a large bull-headed Chimeran body out of the Musuca. The creature was still alive, and struggling to break free. Its attempts ended when a Riptide put a Desert Eagle to its head and pulled the trigger, discharging a .44 Magnum bullet directly into the man-beast's cranium. The muzzle flash illuminated both the creature and its killer, and the gunshot echoed across the beach. At that same moment, a smaller figure emerged from the far side of the Musuca and darted into the water before any of the men noticed. Before Cyrus or Trey could react, a spotlight from one of the Riptides' vessels came down on them.

"No witnesses!" shouted a voice on a megaphone. "Shoot them!"

There was gunfire all around them. They threw themselves onto the sand, and started shooting back at the Riptides. Trey shot the spotlight so that it couldn't track their movements. Cyrus fired his MAC-11 at the men around the police boat, mowing them down with ease.

"Let's go!" Cyrus yelled over the sounds of battle.

Cyrus and Trey got back up, and sprinted towards the boat, with the rest of the Riptides still firing at them. A bullet narrowly grazed Cyrus' thigh, but the adrenaline in him made him ignore it. Trey dove into the boat, and Cyrus followed suit.

The police boat sped away from the site of the beached Musuca, but the gunboats of the Riptides still pursued them.

"What the hell are the Riptides doing here, anyway?!" yelled Cyrus over the roar of the engine.

"The hell I should know!" Trey shouted back. "Maybe they thought they'd be getting more weapons from that Musuca."

A burst of gunfire issued forth from the gunboat nearest to them, and Cyrus stood up again to shoot back. He aimed his gun at them.

"Eat it, you bastards!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, before opening fire on the enemy vessel.

Just then, his gun jammed on him.

"Son of a-"

"Look out!" Trey yelled, as he hastily steered the boat away from a large rock jutting out of the water.

Cyrus quickly lost his balance, mostly due to the jolt of pain in his thigh, and fell overboard.

"Cy!" Trey looked back in horror.

He wanted to steer around and pick up Cyrus, but the Riptides were already closing in on him. If he stopped or tried to turn, the boat would be shredded by their bullets. He had to come back later, whether Cyrus was still alive or not.

"Sorry, man." he said, reaching for the walkie-talkie under the steering wheel.

Cyrus crashed into the depths of the ocean. By the time he resurfaced, the police boat was speeding away from him, but so were the gunboats. He was all alone out there. He tried to swim towards the rock, but the tide was against him, and he had neither the strength nor the stamina to fight it. He found himself sinking back into the black abyss of the Atlantic. Alone.

Or perhaps not.

Just as Cyrus' vision began to blur, he could make out a shape, coming straight at him. Cyrus strained his eyes to see what was approaching. It was a Hammerhead shark. It was closing in on him, its mouth slowly opening.

"Damn..." he thought, as he struggled to swim away.

Then came a series of ripples in the water. They hit the shark, and then Cyrus. He could hear what sounded like a garbled high-pitched screech. A screech so brief, but so intense, that it made him freeze up. The shark swam away from him, disappearing into the dark. But now something else was coming towards him. It was a vaguely humanoid shape, swimming quickly towards him. As the shape came closer, it became luminous and white. And there were those glowing red eyes again. Cyrus lost consciousness.

* * *

In the skies above, a red-and-white CH-53K King Stallion helicopter that once belonged to the United States Coast Guard was circling over the chase between Trey's police boat and the Riptide gunboats. The doors were open, and a man was aiming down through the night-vision scope of his SR-25 rifle at the Riptides.

"Damn, look at all of 'em." said the sniper.

"C'mon, Campbell! You got 'em or what?" buzzed the voice of Trey, from the headset that Campbell was wearing. "If you do, quit fooling around and shoot them!"

"Well, maybe if you'd stop trying to swerve away from them, then maybe I'd be able to line up my shots."

Campbell slowly zoomed in on the pilots of the gunboats, and picked them off one at a time.

 _BANG! BANG!_

"Hot damn!" Campbell hollered as he fired the shots. _  
_

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_

"Jesus, man!" said Campbell, called to the pilot. "I blew that last guy's head clean off! Did you see that, Rockefeller?"

"Yeah, I saw it!" said Rockefeller, shouting over the chopper's engine. "I bet his buddies are crapping themselves right now!"

"And they should be!" said Campbell. "They should know better than to screw around _my_ turf!"

 _BANG! BANG! CLICK!_

"Aw, nuts!" said Campbell, as he reloaded his rifle. "Last magazine. Gotta make it count..."

"What the hell are you shooting them with? BB pellets?!" yelled Trey's voice. "Break out that Cuban gun already!"

"Fine...fine." said Campbell.

He set the sniper rifle against a rack on the wall, opened a compartment above, and brought out a larger rifle: a Mambi AMR. He loaded and cocked the weapon, and then steadily aimed it through a scope at the gunboat nearest to Trey's boat. There was a deafening _BAM!_ that echoed through the chilly night air. Campbell shook from the recoil of the blast, but was able to watch as the gunboat was ruptured in the middle, and a pillar of water shot up. The boat sank into the Atlantic.

 _BAM!_

Another gunboat was blasted to pieces. Campbell was shaking all over. The only reason why he was still able to keep using the gun was pure adrenaline. He hollered excitedly as he fired a third shot.

* * *

It was a while before Cyrus came to, coughing and hacking to get the saltwater out of his system. Once he stopped, he saw that it was very dark, and the stars were out. Not only that, but someone was stooping over him.

"Trey?" Cyrus groaned, rubbing his eyes.

But it wasn't Trey at all. It was a girl. But even in the darkness, Cyrus could tell that this wasn't an ordinary girl. She was relatively small compared to Cyrus, though that's probably because she was kneeling. She had large catlike ears, tipped feet that had no toes, fins on her arms that were slowly shrinking, and glowing red eyes, but the rest of her was still obscured in darkness. Cyrus knew that it was one of Zorndyke's creatures, and cautiously groped his sea-drenched belt for the holstered pistol until he felt its grip. The creature didn't show any signs of movement, so he took his hand off the gun.

"So it looks like...either I'm still intoxicated, or I've got a guardian angel…" said Cyrus. "Or should I say…'mermaid'?"

Cyrus stirred a little. The fish-girl said nothing, and crept aside to give him space.

"You're the one from the Musuca." Cyrus said, sitting himself back up. "The one that survived. And you eluded the Riptides, even when me and Trey couldn't. Clever girl. Thanks for getting me out of the water."

The creature still said nothing, and merely nodded her head.

"So..." said Cyrus. "I guess we'll have that talk, after all."

"Hmmmm…" the mermaid approached him cautiously.

Cyrus stood up and backed away a little.

"Hey, easy now." said Cyrus, raising a hand and shaking his head. "I don't want you to get the wrong idea."

The fish-girl stopped crawling towards him. She stayed still in a bow-legged pose.

"Just hang right there. I wanna get a close look at you."

He walked up to her, but she quickly backed away.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you." said Cyrus.

He leaned forward and extended his hand, bending the fingers back in a beckoning manner. The fish-girl came closer. Now that more stars were becoming visible in the sky, Cyrus could make out more of the mermaid's features. She had a thin, delicate-looking build, with chalk-white skin on the head and torso, and yellow-and-black patterns on her arms, ears, temples, and legs, and pink wing-like appendages hanging from her collar. Her head had an egg-shaped cranium and long silver hair that was white in the middle. She had a black diamond-shaped pattern on her bangs, which extended down her forehead in a broad widow's peak. Her eyes were round, bulbous, and had heavy red eyelids. She had a youthful appearance, and a nearly emotionless face that made it hard to tell exactly how she was feeling.

"There you go." grinned Cyrus. "It's okay."

Then he heard raised voices in the distance, and turned around. It was one of the Riptides' gunboats; a straggler, evidently.

"Crap!" Cyrus turned to his aquatic companion. "Get down!"

He turned and tackled the fish-girl against the rock, making her gasp in surprise. Then he rolled off of her so that he wouldn't pin her to the rocky surface.

"Be quiet." he whispered to her, pulling out his Browning Hi-Power. "There's dangerous men out there."

He flicked the safety on his pistol, crept over the edge of the rock, and looked out at the gunboat. Its spotlight was scanning the waters for something.

"They must be looking for my body." Cyrus muttered, half to himself and half to the mermaid. Then he added: "…or for you."

The mermaid was shaking in fear, and whimpered.

"Cool it." whispered Cyrus. "Listen, the men on that gunboat could kill us both if we're not careful. Maybe if we stay quiet, they'll pass us by."

The spotlight swept back and forth across the rock three times.

"But then again, that boat's probably my only way back; I doubt even you could haul me all the way back to Miami. I've got a plan."

The mermaid was looking at him with a confused expression on her face.

"You know how to fight, don't you?"

She nodded.

"Then I need you to dive into the water and get rid of that boat's crewmen."

Her eyes widened, and now she was looking at Cyrus as though he had declared himself to be criminally insane.

"Don't worry, I'll provide some covering fire for you." he assured her, showing her his pistol before pointing at the boat. "They'll be too occupied with me to notice you. See that turret in the back? If you can get to it, you can probably shoot the others before they even figure out that you're there. Just make it quick; I won't last long if they get that thing into position."

The gunboat's searchlight was now sweeping across the face of the rock.

"We have no time to lose. Ready? Go!"

The mermaid leaped into the water. Cyrus sprang up to his feet, and hollered before firing two bullets at the gunboat. One of them hit the searchlight, blinding the gunboat on his side. The men on the boat fired back at him with submachine guns and assault rifles, but fortunately they missed in the darkness. Cyrus jumped side-to-side shooting at the boat while scanning the water for his new partner to emerge. And she did. She climbed on the boat from the far side, grabbed one of the men by his legs, and then hurled him overboard.

Then she grabbed his AK-102 assault rifle, and smashed it into the head of another Riptide gunman operating the DShK machine gun turret. She huddled behind the turret, visibly struggling to move it in place. The Riptides saw what she was doing, and opened fire. In a panic, she crouched down and pulled the trigger. The gun vibrated madly in her grip as a stream of projectiles tore through the remaining Riptides on the boat. She kept firing, until the recoil overwhelmed her and she had to let go. She looked at her hands, then at the corpses of the men she shot. Even though he was several yards away, Cyrus could tell that the fish-girl was less than thrilled at what she just did.

He jumped into the water, and swam furiously towards the boat, and climbed aboard. The mermaid was still standing there, looking at her hands. He put his weapon away and approached her.

"You did good, girl." he said, reaching to put a hand on the mermaid's shoulder.

"You... _bitch_!" screamed a voice.

There was a gunshot, and the mermaid howled in pain. She was clutching a bloody arm, sobbing madly. Cyrus took his Hi-Power back out, turned around, and saw that the man that the mermaid had thrown overboard had climbed back onto the boat, and was pointing a smoking Bersa Thunder 32. Cyrus felt the blood in the back of his head boil. His face twisted with a growl, and a feral rage overtook him.

"No! Goddamn you!"

Cyrus aimed his own gun at the man, and fired two shots into him, knocking his body back into the water.

" _How dare you_?!" he snarled, panting heavily. "Shooting an unarmed enemy while their back is turned?"

He leaned over the edge of the boat, and emptied the rest of his gun's magazine into the man, even as his corpse lay floating in the water.

"You..."

 _BANG!_

"...filthy..."

 _BANG!_

"...coward!"

 _BANG! BANG! BANG! CLICK! CLICK!  
_

Then he spat into the water, turned around, and hurried over to help the fish-girl.

"Are you okay?" asked Cyrus. Then when he saw the wound, he said: "Oh my god, I'm sorry! This is my fault. I shouldn't have made you do this!"

Then he heard the sounds of a helicopter passing overhead. He looked up, and saw a spotlight beaming down on him. Then he turned to face the mermaid, who was now rolling around gnashing her teeth. He steadily waited for the right moment to grab her, and put pressure on her arm.

"Shh…it's all right." whispered Cyrus. "Relax, and I can help you."

The mermaid was shaking as though she were having a seizure, and was trying to flail away from Cyrus.

"Please relax." Cyrus whispered. "You could make the wound worse if you don't calm down!"

The mermaid refused to stop, and was struggling to break free. Cyrus tightened his grip on her arm.

"Calm down! Look!" he pointed at her wound. "You're fine! You're going to be fine. Now for God's sake, calm down!"

He lightly slapped her across the face to make her come to her senses. She whimpered, but stopped shaking and flailing. Her tear-drenched eyes widened, and gazed into Cyrus'.

"Look." Cyrus pointed at the wound again. "Your wound doesn't look too serious, but you need to let me help you, or it might get infected. That helicopter up there can take us back to my place, where I can heal your arm. Do you understand?"

She nodded, before looking up. The helicopter was descending on them now. Cyrus saw that Campbell and Trey were leaning out the door, looking at him.

"Hey! Hey!" yelled Cyrus, waving his arms frantically. "Down here! We need help!"

Trey jumped out of the helicopter, between Cyrus and the mermaid, who squirmed backwards and clutched her arm.

"You get away from him!" he yelled angrily as he pointed a gun at the mermaid, before turning to check on Cyrus. "Cy, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but she's hurt!" Cyrus yelled at him. "We need to get her onto the helicopter."

"Are you still drunk?" Trey countered, lowering the gun. "Don't you know what that is? That's one of the nereids. She's one of Zorndyke's monsters!"

"And she just helped me!" Cyrus told him. "That's right, she saved my life. If it weren't for her, I would've been swallowed up by the ocean, eaten by sharks, or gunned down by these assholes. She's the one from the Musuca. The one _you_ almost shot!"

Trey looked at the nereid, who was still clutching her wounded arm, and narrowed his eyes. He pointed the gun back at the nereid.

"Trey! No!" yelled Cyrus, frantically.

The nereid closed her eyes and whimpered as Trey pulled the trigger. He fired several bullets in the nereid's direction, until the MP5's magazine was empty.

"What the...?"

Cyrus stood with his mouth gaping open when he realized the bullets didn't hit the nereid, but a man that had gotten up behind her. Cyrus recognized him as the gunner that she knocked out earlier. Trey held up his gun, and blew on the smoking barrel.

"Fine. We patch and clean her up, then she gets the hell out of here…or else."

He waved his gun threateningly at the nereid, even while Cyrus went over to help her.

"Fish! You can come with us! Now get your sorry ass on the chopper, or I'll put you out of your misery right here!" he barked to her.

The creature hissed at him, but Cyrus patted her on the head.

"We don't have time to argue." he told her. "Let's get you aboard."

Campbell reached out of the helicopter, and helped Cyrus, and then the nereid. He paused and looked at her.

"Whoa..."

"Move it!" yelled Trey, as he climbed onto the helicopter.


	2. The Nereid

As soon as Cyrus' group got back to the Ocean's Rest, they carried the wounded nereid into his room. She had been thrashing about and whimpering in a mixture of pain and fear for almost the entire trip, and they had no anesthetics or medicine that could ease the pain. Trey and Cyrus rushed her into the bathroom, put her in the tub, and filled it with water. They tried to check the wound on her arm and wipe off the blood, in spite of the creature's squirming and crying.

"Calm down, we're going to help you!" yelled Cyrus over all the shrieking. "Just hold still, will ya?!"

The fish-girl continued thrashing about, like a small child in a dentist's chair. Eventually, she calmed down enough for her two human companions to examine the bullet wound.

"No slug." said Trey. "The bullet must've grazed her arm."

"Yeah." said Cyrus. "I was reaching for her shoulder when he fired the gun. He must've had trouble making his mark, with my hand in the way."

"She _sure_ is lucky." muttered Trey, who was fighting to hold the nereid in place.

"Lucky?" repeated Cyrus, as he was applying pressure to the wound, and trying to drown out the creature's cries of pain. "Nah. I was a police officer before this whole city got flooded..."

"I know, man. You told me."

"Right...anyway, one time, some punk I was trying to arrest snuck up from behind and threw a knife at me. I got hit in the head with the handle, not the blade! It was a one-in-a-million chance, and it still hurt like hell! I'm _still_ getting spasms in the back of my head."

He took a rag from the closet, soaked it with soap and water, and tied it around the nereid's arm. She stopped crying. Then Cyrus sat on the toilet and did the same thing with the injuries on his own body. He took off his vest, shirt, gloves, and boots and tossed them in a corner, but kept on his undershirt and socks.

Meanwhile, Trey was cursing under his breath as he was left to clean the nereid's wounds. Though he obviously resented what he was doing, he nevertheless did the best that he could to make sure she didn't have any other injuries on her body that needed inspecting. He saw that there were a few bruises on her legs, and some scar tissue on one of her ears, but nothing critical.

"There, you're fine." he said to the nereid. "Now I'm gettin' my ass outta here. Ya smell horrible."

"I doubt it's her, Trey." Cyrus intervened. "It _always_ smells horrible in here. This place hasn't had room service in years."

Trey rolled his eyes, and then went into the other room.

Cyrus stooped over the nereid to scrub her bruises with a sponge. The nereid was scowling angrily at Trey as he was walking out, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Just cool it. Don't worry about Trey." said Cyrus. "He's a good man at heart, but…okay, I'm not going to beat around the bush."

He put his hands on her shoulders, and looked straight into her eyes.

"Last time your kind was here in Miami, they killed a lot of good people. Trey's dad was one of them."

The nereid frowned, and hung her head down in shame. She started to sniffle.

"Hey…don't worry, kiddo." said Cyrus. "It wasn't your fault. I'm sure you and the others were just...following orders."

He studied her face. The shaking lip, the saline dripping down her cheeks, and then her eyes. Though a bright red, her eyes did not seem to belong to something malevolent. They had a childlike innocence in them, but also fear, confusion, and curiosity. He never had a chance to actually look one of Zorndyke's creatures in the eyes until after they were already dead. This made him all the more curious about the nereid recovering in his bathtub.

"So..." said Cyrus, awkwardly. "Do you have a name?"

The nereid looked at him, confused and nervous. Cyrus decided to speak first:

" _My_ name is Cyrus. Cyrus Legoria. What's yours?"

The nereid paused, and slowly opened her mouth. She stammered and tried to speak.

"Moot…" she began, then paused again. "Moo…t…tee…oh. Mee-oo…tee…oh."

"Could you say that again?"

"Mutio..."

"Mutio?" repeated Cyrus. "Your name is Mutio?"

She nodded.

"That's a very nice name." Cyrus smiled a little.

Mutio smiled back.

"So, do you think you'll be fine in here while I talk to Trey?" Cyrus asked her.

Mutio nodded again.

"Good. Try not to make a mess or wander off." said Cyrus, warmly. "If you need anything, I'll be in the other room."

Cyrus walked into the bedroom, and Trey was sitting on the sofa near the window. He was wiping the barrel of his MP5, and had a rather annoyed look on his face.

"You're being a little too friendly with that…thing in there." he said.

"And you're not being friendly enough." said Cyrus.

"Why the hell should _I_ be friendly to her?" asked Trey. "What did any of those damn fish-monsters do for me? Just because she saved you doesn't mean she wanted to be your friend. She sure ain't mine! None of them are!"

Cyrus took a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. Then he stared straight into Trey's eyes. He walked up to him without breaking eye contact.

"First of all...I hate Zorndyke as much as you do, Trey, and I probably won't get over what he did anytime soon. But Zorndyke's been dead for months, and the war against his creatures died with him."

He pointed at the bathroom door.

"So do you think that it's right for me to take it out on _her_ , after she put her life on the line to save me?! Second, Blue Fleet says we need to give the Chimerans a chance. And I agree with them; I wanna be better than the men that nearly killed us tonight! And third, if the other two points aren't good enough for you, I need to find out what the hell destroyed that Musuca and slaughtered its passengers, and she's the only surviving witness that can possibly tell us. So I want to be calm and civil with her so that I can convince her to tell me what happened. I don't want whatever happened to the Musuca to happen to us! Do you understand me, Trey?"

Trey switched the safety on the MP5, then took a deep breath, stood up, and gave the gun back to Cyrus.

"Sorry, sorry." said Trey. "I don't mean to act like that. I just don't wanna see any more of my friends get hurt."

"Which reminds me." said Cyrus. "You sure took your sweet time getting back to me when I fell overboard."

"Well, you know how it was, man." said Trey. "I wanted to get back to you. Really, I did. But them assholes in the gunboats were shootin' everything they had at me. If Campbell and Rockefeller weren't flyin' in their chopper, they woulda chased me all the way back to Miami…assuming I would've lived that long."

"And how did they do against them? Were there any left?"

"Yeah! Two or three boats got away."

"Son of a bitch." growled Cyrus. "They'll tell the other Riptides about what happened tonight. I'd bet anything that they'll soon be all over Miami like barnacles on an old canoe; They won't want anyone messing with their spoils."

Trey scoffed, then said: "Well, I'm going to round up the others. I'm gonna tell them all hell's gonna break loose soon. Why don't you check the fish-lady-"

"Mutio."

"What?"

"Her name is 'Mutio'. She told me."

"Whatever. Why don't you check on… _Mutio_ …and see if she can carry her own weight, or if she's just gonna get in the way. If you'll excuse me, Cy, I gotta get Rockefeller to fly me back to the boat, then bring it back here. Then I'm gonna go home, and make sure my little brother's in bed."

"You _better_ bring it back." said Cyrus. "That's the second time you left it out in the middle of the ocean. Good night."

"Good night, Cy. I swear I'll return it by tomorrow morning."

As soon as Trey left the room, there was a series of splashes and clattering noises coming from the opposite direction. Cyrus turned around and saw the bathroom door open. Mutio was leaning in the doorway, cradling her wounded arm. Her teeth were bared, and tears were streaming down her face, indicating she was still in pain.

"Mutio, what's the matter?" he asked.

"Cy…russs." moaned Mutio.

She stumbled forward and was about to fall onto the floor, but Cyrus caught her in time. He braced her in his arms so that she wouldn't try to break free, but not so hard as to crush her; with her scrawny build and almost rail-thin arms and legs, the last thing she needed right now was a tight squeeze.

"No, Mutio. I told you!" stressed Cyrus. "I said that you _can't_ leave in that kind of condition. Just rest here for the night; you'll be safe. Here, let me help you to the couch."

He picked her up, and carried her to the sofa, where he set her down ever so gently. He picked up an empty beer bottle off the floor, ran outside and down the fire escape to fill the bottle with seawater, ran back up to the room, and poured it into Mutio's mouth. Once she gulped it all down, Cyrus placed a hand on her undamaged shoulder.

"Now tell me what's wrong. Why do you need to leave so fast?"

Mutio said nothing, just opened and closed her mouth. It was now that Cyrus realized:

"You don't talk much, do you?"

Mutio shook her head.

"Damn it..." Cyrus muttered.

If Mutio couldn't talk, then they were going to have a hard time trying to learn what happened. But it was getting late, and Cyrus was beyond exhausted. He'd have to worry about it in the morning.

Cyrus picked Mutio up again, making sure her injured arm was firmly placed on her chest, and carried her back to the bathtub. The water was spilled all over the floor, so Cyrus had to refill the tub. Mutio shuddered under the water, but eventually settled down, accepted its warmth, and laid her head on the rim of the bathtub, closing her eyes.

"Sleep tight." smiled Cyrus, who stepped out of the bathroom, turned out the lights, laid down on the bed with one eye closed, and the other trained on Mutio's general direction.

* * *

Tetsu Hayami was sitting atop the Grampus, smoking a cigarette. The Grampus was topside, and Kino was making repairs. Blue-6 was docked a quarter of a mile away. They were at an atoll in the Caribbean. They had been out there for months, and the sun was burning down on them hard.

"Kino, how much longer?" he asked.

"Just another minute." said Kino, who was tightening a bolt. "There. Let's go."

They sat in their seats, and lowered the glass cover over their cockpits.

"Hayami, Blue-6 has been ordered to regroup with the fleet in Jamaica." said the voice of Tokuhiro Iga on the radio.

"Do you want us to come back to you?" asked Kino.

"Negative, we still need someone to continue the search for that Musuca. We need to know what the hell they're doing this far up North."

"What if we run into trouble?" asked Hayami.

"Try heading towards Miami, Florida." replied Iga's voice. "I've already sent word to the locals to look out for the Musuca. They're a tough bunch, and they should be able to help you. Assuming, of course, the various brigands and pirates in the area haven't gotten to them before you get there."

"Did you say…'Brigands and pirates'?" Kino asked, blinking in surprise.

"Yes. The Gulf of Mexico's been overrun with the worst kind of criminals ever since Zorndyke started flooding the planet. Blue Fleet would've gone after them sooner, but we had other things on our minds."

"Right." said Hayami.

"Your new Grampus is highly resistant to small arms fire. So you don't need to worry...too much."

"That's a relief." sighed Kino, before adding. "Not that I _am_ worried. A bunch of goons with guns don't seem so bad compared to the stuff we've dealt with in Antarctica."

"Time to go, Kino." said Hayami. "Taking her down."

The Grampus descended into the depths of the Atlantic, as did Blue-6, and they went their separate ways.

* * *

The next day, Cyrus awoke like he usually did: to the cawing of seabirds. For a split-second when he opened his eyes, he thought everything that happened last night was a dream. Then he heard singing. The same singing he heard near the Musuca. He looked around and saw Mutio on the sofa, peering out the window, singing some kind of song. She sounded uneasy, as if she wasn't sure that she should be doing it at all. But she still seemed better than she was last night. As soon as she stopped, she sighed and curled up into a fetal position.

"I like your singing." Cyrus said.

Mutio gasped, and wheeled around to face Cyrus, eyes widened.

"How are you feeling?" asked Cyrus.

Mutio frowned, sat upright, and looked out the window again. Cyrus joined her as she started looking at the surrounding buildings.

"That's Miami." he told her. "Not much to look at, though."

Mutio kept looking out the window, to the water beyond.

"There used to be a whole lot of land around us." Cyrus continued. "Before the tide rolled in. Good thing there were those walls around the bay."

Cyrus pointed to some broken-down structures in the distance.

"Without them, the whole city would be underwater by now."

He yawned.

"I bet you're hungry. How about some breakfast?"

Mutio nodded in acknowledgement. She tried to clamber over the window's edge, but she yelped in pain and grabbed her arm again.

"You're still hurt." observed Cyrus. "C'mon, let me show you-"

But Mutio slinked out of Cyrus's grip, and jumped out the window. There was a splash.

"Damn it, she's gonna get herself killed." muttered Cyrus, rolling his eyes.

He put on some old sneakers from a cabinet next to his bed, ran out of the room, and down the fire escape. Mutio quickly emerged from the water, with a fish dangling from her mouth. She also had a fish in her hand, offering it to Cyrus. Cyrus just scowled at her, trying to resist the urge to laugh, and the fish wriggled out from between Mutio's fingers and fell into the water.

"That was… _very_ stupid what you just did!" he growled, half-chuckling. "Get back up there now, before somebody sees you."

Mutio nodded, then crawled back up the fire escape. She paused for a moment to look around, in case anyone was in the water or the surrounding buildings. Then she frowned in disbelief at Cyrus. Then there was a droning sound in the distance. Cyrus stopped chuckling.

"Up the stairs…now!"

Mutio obeyed, and not a moment too soon; a motorboat sped by the hotel. Aboard the boat were two bearded men, both wearing overalls, long-sleeved shirts, trucker hats, and fisherman's boots. One had a double-barreled shotgun, and the other a fishing-pole. They stopped the boat just a few feet in front of Cyrus.

"Good mornin', Officer Legoria!" said one of the men, speaking with a dense Southern drawl. "Fahn day fer fishin', ainit?"

"Then why do you have a gun?" asked Cyrus.

"'Case the seagulls try takin' our food!" the other man said. "Billy Joe here reckons I can't get a whole flock of 'em in one shot! I'm fixin' to prove him wrong! Wanna come along? I know the right spot to catch tarpons, and we got an extra fishing rod!"

"No thanks, Jack!" said Cyrus. "I'll pass."

" _Sooooot yerself!_ " guffawed Billy Joe. "C'mon, let's go!"

"Wait!" Cyrus shouted after them. "You need to know something. We ran into some Riptides in the Keys, and..."

But the boat was already moving, and his words were drowned out by the motor. Cyrus sighed in relief; he didn't want anyone else to find out about his guest just yet. At that moment, a seagull flew over them. He saw Jack point his shotgun at the bird, shoot it out of the air, then guffaw and yell excitedly. Just then, he froze when he looked in the general direction of the Ocean's Rest, his mouth gaping. Cyrus didn't like the look of this.

"Did he see her?" he muttered under his breath.

He looked up, but Mutio had already gone into the building. Mutio was waiting for Cyrus to come back inside, and then they went through the corridor and back into the room. Then Cyrus guided her to a small refrigerator near the bathroom door. He looked at Mutio, who had just finished chewing and swallowing the fish raw.

"Mutio, you've got to be careful." said Cyrus, looking out the window in case the fishermen came back. "You were lucky they didn't shoot you. I hope they didn't see you, either."

He sighed in relief as the boat disappeared from sight. It was at this moment where he noticed that the police boat had been returned to the pawnshop jetty. It seemed Trey did manage to bring it back, after all.

"So you can catch fish, huh?" Cyrus said, now that he was calmed down. "Someone like you would be pretty useful around here."

Mutio nodded in acknowledgement.

"Maybe you'll want a decent drink to wash that fish down."

He looked in the fridge again.

"Sorry, it doesn't look like I have much." he said. "But at least I have these."

He took a pack of frozen fishsticks out of the freezer, and two bottles of soda out of the fridge. He opened one of them, and gave it to Mutio.

"On the house." smiled Cyrus.

Curiously, Mutio took the bottle and sniffed it. She stuck her tongue in the bottle to taste the carbonated beverage within. Her red eyes widened, and then she put it to her lips and started gulping it down. Then she dropped the empty bottle and burped a little. Her cheeks slightly reddened.

"So you like it?"

Mutio nodded. Then she took the fishsticks out of the package, and then started chewing them. She didn't even seem to mind the fact that they were still frozen.

"You sure have an appetite." noted Cyrus. "Just like me when I was a kid."

Mutio sat back on the sofa, and Cyrus followed suit. Mutio saw the boom box near Cyrus' bed, and crept up to it curiously. She pressed the play button, and it started playing "Universal Daddy". She listened to it for a few seconds, confused.

"That's Alphaville." said Cyrus. "I love their music."

Mutio looked at the boom box, then back to Cyrus.

"You know how to sing, but do you dance?" Cyrus asked her, over the music.

Mutio shook her head, confused.

"You do this."

Cyrus stood up, and started to perform a very funky dance that wouldn't look out of place in a disco. The beat of the song, the singing, and Cyrus' dancing all felt mesmerizing to Mutio. She stared for so long that she slowly started imitating Cyrus' moves as best as she could without standing upright. Once the song was over, he shut the boom box back off, prompting Mutio to stop dancing.

"Well, that was fun." said Cyrus. "If you were here in Miami back in the day, you would've loved it. Entire buildings devoted to dancing, partying, and getting drunk off exotic liquor. It was the nightclub capital of the United States...before it all washed away."

Mutio frowned.

Cyrus felt that it was time to cut to the chase. He could knew that if Mutio got healthy enough, she'd try leaving. But he didn't want her to go just yet. Not while they had a potential threat looming on the horizon that they needed to know about.

"So, what were you and the other creatures on the Musuca doing here?"

Mutio said nothing, but stared knowingly at him.

"Oh, yeah…" said Cyrus, with a shrug. "I forgot that you're not much of a talker. Do you know how to use a pen? Ya know...write stuff down?"

Mutio shook her head.

"Well, there's got to be something you can do to tell us what happened." said Cyrus.

He paused to think, when there was a knock on the door.

"Hey, Cyrus!" said a voice on the other side.

It was Campbell the sniper, who lived on the seventh floor of the Ocean's Rest. Cyrus went to the door, and opened it.

"Didn't come at a bad time, did I?" asked Campbell, who peered over Cyrus's shoulder at Mutio. "I heard the song, so I figured you were up."

"Of course not." said Cyrus. "Come in."

Campbell went inside, and approached the sofa to sit down next to Mutio. He was a slim young man, with short, wavy brown hair. He was wearing a black-and-blue Miami Marlins baseball cap, a torn blue denim jacket, white t-shirt, tattered gray gloves, blue jeans, black hi-tops, and blue-rimmed sunglasses. He took out a lighter and flicked it, lighting up the cigar he held in his other hand.

"Sorry I couldn't help ya with her last night. I was shaking all over from firing the Mambi. I don't think I was supposed to shoot it while standing, much less in a moving aircraft. Anyway, I just wanted to check on you guys, and see if you needed anything."

Then he put the cigar in his mouth, and turned to look at Mutio and Cyrus.

"Huh... _Miami Vice_ meets _The Little Mermaid_." he muttered.

"I wasn't in the vice squad, Rick." said Cyrus. "I was in a K-9 unit."

"Oh, but I meant..." said Campbell. "Ah, never mind."

He cleared his throat and focused solely on Mutio. Then he spoke to her: "I don't think we had a chance to meet last night. My name's Campbell. Richard Campbell."

He reached out his hand for Mutio to shake, but she just looked at him confused.

"Uh…you're supposed to shake it." Campbell stated.

She sniffed his hand suspiciously, then she turned her head away in disgust.

"Maybe it's the cigar..." he muttered. "So...you got a name?"

Mutio said nothing to him, and just stared at the wall.

"Her name's Mutio." said Cyrus. "And she doesn't talk much."

"Why...?" asked Campbell, taking the cigar out of his mouth. "Does she have a problem talking?"

"Either she won't, or can't. I'm trying to figure out a way that she could communicate with us. To find out why she's here."

"Did you try sign language?"

"I don't know sign language."

"Morse code?"

"Who the hell around here knows Morse code?"

Campbell thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers.

"I got it!" he said. "We could use my map. Maybe she could point us to where she tried to go."

"Good idea, Ricky." said Cyrus.

Campbell opened his pack, and pulled out a chart of the Atlantic Ocean, laying it out in front of Mutio.

"Okay, so we're here." Campbell pointed at Florida. "We know that Zorndyke created you and the other hybrids in Antarctica."

He pointed at the southern edge of the map.

"So how'd you guys get all the way up here?" Campbell asked Mutio. "Where were you trying to go?"

Mutio studied the map. She stroked her finger up and down the map, trying to remember the route her Musuca was taking. She started at the bottom, then worked her way up along the eastern coast of South America, and then the Caribbean, and then close to the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.

"Is that where the Musuca was attacked?" asked Campbell.

Mutio nodded.

"But what the hell was it that attacked you?" asked Cyrus. "No way the Riptides could have the kind of firepower to massacre a Musuca like that. Unless it was the military...or something else."

Mutio frowned. She turned around and leaned out the window. She pointed a finger upwards. She made a spiraling motion with her hand.

"I don't get it." said Campbell, confused.

"She's telling us that it attacked them from the sky." said Cyrus.

"So it was some sort of flying creature…or aircraft?" asked Campbell.

Mutio nodded.

"Was it a helicopter? Like the one Rockefeller and I picked you up in?"

Mutio shook her head. She put her hands together, and then spread them apart slowly.

"Bigger than that?" Campbell asked.

"Probably an airplane or blimp." said Cyrus.

"In these parts?" asked Campbell. "That's crazy. The only aircraft that size I can think of belong to the Air Force, and they're all up North. Besides, I thought Blue Fleet already cleaned up that mess with Zorndyke's creatures."

"Was it Blue Fleet?" Cyrus asked Mutio.

Mutio bowed her head, and frowned even harder. She crossed her arms, and muttered something.

"What's that?" Campbell tilted his head.

"Ha…ya…mi." Mutio whispered to herself, still looking down at her knees.

"What…?"

"Hayami." repeated Mutio.

"Who the hell's Hayami?" asked Campbell. "Is he the one that attacked the Musuca?"

Mutio raised her head, her eyes narrowed. She shook her head angrily, as though the suggestion offended her.

"Is Hayami a friend of yours?" asked Cyrus.

Mutio eased up, and then nodded. She smiled a little.

Suddenly, a large shadow passed over the building, and there was a loud noise outside: the sound of helicopter blades spinning overhead, accompanied by the roaring of an engine.

"What the hell is that?" asked Campbell. "Can't be Rockefeller; He's still refueling."

"It's Walsh." Cyrus said, looking out the window.

"Son of a…" Campbell started.

"Save it, Rick." Cyrus said to him. "They'll be waiting for me on the roof. Why don't you stay here with Mutio? Don't let her out of your sight."

"Fine." nodded Campbell.

Cyrus loaded a magazine into his Hi-Power, cocked it, then hurried out of the room. Mutio tried to follow, but Campbell stopped her.

"Stay here."


	3. Walsh

As the Grampus sped through the depths of the Caribbean Sea, its pilots were conversing.

"Mr. Hayami, I wanted to ask you…" asked Kino.

"Shoot." nodded Hayami.

"Why did you save-"

"Mutio?" asked Hayami.

"Yes." said Kino.

"Well...you know what they say. When you're fishing, you throw the little ones back."

"Hayami, I'm being serious."

"Fine." said Hayami. "You wanna know the real reason?"

He took a deep breath.

"Because that wasn't the first time that I saw her."

"It wasn't?"

"No. Last year, a few weeks before you and I met in Tokyo, I was scavving in Hong Kong. It was under attack by Zorndyke's creatures, and I was trying to save my own ass. One of their Kumos had been damaged by a Chinese warship, and came ashore. Its hatch opened up so that the pilot could start making repairs, and I had a sniper rifle aimed at it. I don't know what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't her."

"So Mutio was the one in the Kumo?"

"Uh-huh." said Hayami. "Those red eyes are a dead giveaway."

"So how come you didn't take the shot?" asked Kino.

"Because I hadn't seen anything like her before." said Hayami. "Hell, that was the first time I ever saw any of Zorndyke's creatures other than the Musucas. It was...incredible. Besides, I was out of bullets."

"So you didn't want me to kill her in Tokyo because you remembered her from Hong Kong...?"

"Yep." said Hayami. "Now let's focus on the mission."

"Okay, Hayami." said Kino. "Can I just ask you one more thing?"

"Sure..."

"You know how you told me that you and Mutio were alone together in that Musuca. Did you ever-"

"I didn't do what you think I did." scoffed Hayami, half-blushing. "I saved her, and she saved me. There was nothing going on between us…"

"Okay." nodded Kino.

Hayami stared out into the deep, dark sea, and saw all the fish swimming around the Grampus. He almost expected one of them to be one of Zorndyke's creatures. Maybe even…her. He closed his eyes and sighed.

He thought about the nereid twins at Antarctica, who had launched a suicide attack against Blue-6 during the Antarctic War, and senselessly gotten themselves killed before Hayami could stop them. What he saw had horrified him. The fact that they closely resembled Mutio irked him even more. He couldn't bear to see that sort of thing happen again. Not to her.

"Wherever she is, I hope she's okay." he whispered under his breath, his hand trembling.

The Grampus continued on through the ocean waters.

* * *

Cyrus climbed the stairs of the fire escape and made it to the roof of the Ocean's Rest. There, a dark green helicopter had landed. Four men jumped out, each wearing full sets of kevlar body armor and with different firearms slung on their backs.

"Yep, it's Walsh." mumbled Cyrus.

Walsh was an operative in the U.S. Special Forces, or what was left of them. He would check by every now and then to make sure that Miami was still populated. But he clearly hated the place, and saw Cyrus and others like him as obstructions to their hopes of rebuilding the nation. The United States, and many other countries, were crawling with refugees from the coastal areas, and this was causing a number of problems, further inland: rioting, poverty, disease, and other things. All because of Zorndyke. The fact that Walsh of all people was being sent to monitor Miami, combined with the lack of reconstruction in the previous months, was a sign that the U.S. government was less and less interested in helping the people on the coasts.

Usually, Walsh would just do a simple fly-by in his helicopter, and watch over the general area from the sky. But when he actually _landed_ somewhere in the city, it meant that serious things were underway. The last time this happened, two people were taken inland to be interrogated and were never seen again by anyone in Miami. Cyrus, not wanting to show fear in this man, stretched out his arms in a welcoming manner and wore a huge smile.

"Well, it's been a while!" he exclaimed. "Hasn't it, Walsh? How can I help you this fine day?"

The leader of the armed men, a broad-shouldered fellow with short black hair and a mustache, approached Cyrus. He seized Cyrus by the neck, and pinned him against a broken generator. He brandished a Beretta M9 from a holster on his belt, and pointed it at Cyrus' head.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." Walsh whispered to him, glaring into his eyes.

"What the hell's your problem this time?" inquired Cyrus. "What do you want?"

"What do you think?" asked Walsh. "The survivor from the Musuca. A little birdie told me about her."

Cyrus' suspicions were correct; the fishermen _did_ see Mutio after all. But how did they know about the Musuca?

"Oh, really?" asked Cyrus. "Listen, if you're here to kill her, it won't be necessary. I already shot her and dumped her body in the sea. She's probably shark food by now."

"Don't screw with me, Legoria!" snapped Walsh. "I know you're lying."

He sighed.

"But don't worry. I wasn't planning on killing her, anyway. Despite what you think, I'm not an idiot."

"Then what _are_ you here for?"

"Just bring me down to the creature, and I'll show you."

"Why don't you just tell me now? _Then_ I'll take you down to her."

"Because I'm the one holding the gun." said Walsh.

There was a click, and Walsh had a Browning HP pointed at his own head.

"That makes two of us." smirked Cyrus.

Then he saw that Walsh's men were all aiming their rifles at him.

"You shoot me, and my men will kill you." Walsh warned him.

"No, I shoot you, and then I use your corpse as a human shield to block whatever bullets they send my way." said Cyrus. "Then I run back down the stairs, where Campbell and the creature are waiting. The three of us could easily finish off your men if they even think about following us. And if they try using the helicopter, Campbell's a trained sharpshooter and could bring the whole thing down with a single, well-placed shot between the pilot's eyes."

"You're a shrewd one, Cyrus Legoria." smiled Walsh, gesturing for his men to stand down. "Fine, I'll tell you what you want to know."

"Damn right." said Cyrus.

"My men back inland have been researching the different Chimeran hybrids that Zorndyke created to destroy us." said Walsh. "We've discovered that while some of them have been unable to speak like you or me, they can easily understand languages, and how to read or write."

"So where are you going with this?" asked Cyrus.

Walsh unclipped what looked like a miniature computer or tablet off his belt, and showed it to Cyrus.

"If the hybrid you found is intelligent enough, we could use this to communicate with it."

"Why bother communicating with them?"

"Because your Musuca isn't the only one that's been washing up on American shores these past months." said Walsh. "Another beached itself near New York, with all its passengers slain. Your Chimera so far is the only confirmed survivor of these attacks. And if I'm right, then this should break the ice. Take me to her now."

Downstairs in Cyrus' hotel room, Mutio was having the device bound to her forearm by Walsh. She stared at it in wonder. As soon as Walsh was finished, he opened it up, revealing a small keyboard.

"You can use this to talk to us." Walsh explained to Mutio. "Like this."

He started typing on Mutio's wrist-device, pressed a blue button on the left end, and an electronic voice was heard:

"Good afternoon, everyone."

"Oh, yeah." said Campbell. "I know what those are. They're those computer things they use to help people that have trouble speaking. Why didn't I think of them?"

Mutio ignored Campbell, and started typing random letters. She then pressed the blue button, but the device produced digitized gibberish. Confused, she looked at the three men. Then she stared at the device again, and started tilting her head in weird ways.

"Hmm…"

She started typing more thoughtfully. Then she pressed the blue button.

"I am Mutio." the electronic voice registered.

"Fast learner." commented Cyrus.

"I wouldn't be surprised; the nereids supposedly could operate all sorts of heavy machinery." asked Walsh. "Mutio, what can you tell us about what happened to the Musuca?"

"Attacked by flying machine. Big one." Mutio typed.

"We already know this part." Campbell told Walsh.

"Why were you passing through here, though?" Walsh asked.

"Looking for Admiral Verg."

"Who's Verg? A human?"

"No. Hybrid. like me. Went north. Two weeks ago."

"You've been looking for this…Verg...ever since?" asked Walsh.

Mutio nodded.

"Mutio, who is Hayami?" asked Cyrus.

Mutio frowned, but kept typing:

"Human. Saved me during war."

"Would you be talking about Tetsu Hayami?" asked Walsh. "I heard that name somewhere. Wasn't he the guy who shot Zorndyke?"

She started trembling.

"Ha…ya...mi." she whispered aloud.

Cyrus put a hand on Mutio's shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay." he whispered into her ear. "Do you know where Hayami is?"

Mutio shook her head, and got up. She hugged Cyrus, and began sobbing into his shoulder.

"Wow, she must really miss him." said Campbell.

Walsh tried to grab Mutio by the arm, but she pulled it away from him.

"Mutio, look at me." he said to her. "It's very important you cooperate with me."

Mutio stopped sobbing and glared at him.

"Hmph!" she snorted, turned her head away, and sat down.

"Mutio, listen." Walsh reached to grab her again.

Mutio hissed at him, then assumed a crouching position.

"Mutio, if you don't tell me about this…flying machine, then we could all be in danger." Walsh knelt down to look her in the eyes. "Your people aren't the only ones whose lives are on the line."

Mutio scowled at him.

"Why is she being so difficult with me?" Walsh asked Campbell and Cyrus.

"I don't know." said Campbell, laughing. "Maybe you don't smell right to her. Try taking a bath once in a while, slimeball."

Walsh growled, and then drew out his Beretta to point between Campbell's lips.

"You better keep your goddamn mouth shut, Campbell, or I'll blast a hole right through it!"

"Good lord, not this again." sighed Cyrus.

Campbell had good intentions, but he had a habit of getting into fights with others. And usually, it was because he wouldn't keep his thoughts to himself. He knew he was going to need to save his ass once again.

...or maybe not. Quick as lightning, Mutio sprang on Walsh and bit him hard on the wrist, causing him to drop his pistol. Then she picked it up, and pointed it at Walsh's face.

" _What the hell?!_ " growled Walsh, who was clutching his bleeding hand.

"Heh, don't mess with the mermaid." commented Campbell.

"I'm trying to _help_ you, damn it!" Walsh howled at Mutio. "What's the matter with you?"

Mutio was still glaring at him. Walsh noticed her trigger finger was twitching, and could pull back at any moment.

"Okay, okay." he said aloud. "If you help me, then I'll get you to Blue Fleet. I know some people that serve in it. If I take you to Blue Fleet, then you'll find Hayami. Just please…chill out, and put the gun down."

Mutio relaxed and nodded, turning to give Campbell the Beretta.

"Thanks, Mutio." chuckled Campbell, accepting the firearm. "I always wanted one of these."

"That's _my_ gun!" protested Walsh.

Mutio hissed threateningly.

"Fine. It's yours. You can keep the damn thing."

Mutio crawled into the bathroom and came back out, carrying a rag in her mouth. She put it in her hands, and wrapped it around Walsh's wound.

"First you bite me, now you're nursing me?" asked Walsh.

Once Mutio was done wrapping the rag around Walsh's hand, she backed away between Cyrus and Campbell.

"That's a good girl." said Campbell, patting her on the head. "You better hold your part of the deal, Walsh. Or she might give you something much worse than a bite on the hand."

"Oh, is she your guard dog now?" asked Walsh. "Fine. Whatever."

"Mutio, what else can you tell us about this thing that attacked you?" asked Cyrus.

Mutio started typing on her wrist device again.

"Came from the North. Destroyed all Kumos. Killed ten of my sisters. And everyone on the Musuca."

"Sorry to hear that." said Cyrus.

"How did it kill them?" asked Walsh.

"Dropped bombs. Big ones."

"Must've been a bomber plane." commented Campbell. "Air Force, perhaps?"

"The Air Force stopped sending planes down this way since the _Coolidge_ sank." dismissed Walsh. "If they were sending any more down, I would've heard of-"

Suddenly, there was an explosion in the distance, followed by bursts of gunfire. Then there were hurried footsteps in the hall, and one of Walsh's men ran inside.

"Sir, we've got helicopters and gunboats closing in on our position." he told them.

"It's the Riptides." said Cyrus, looking out the window. "They're all over us!"

Dozens of watercraft were pouring into Miami Beach, firing their armaments at the buildings. Accompanying them were a handful of military helicopters.

"Oh... _shit_!" said Campbell.

"That's way too many of them." said Cyrus. "There's no way we could take them all."

"We need to get the hell out of here." said Walsh, turning to his comrade. "Riggs, get up to the chopper, and tell them to get it up and ready."

He turned to Mutio, Cyrus, and Campbell.

"And you three, come with me."

Cyrus pulled a SPAS-12 out from underneath his bed, and loaded it with shells.

"Let's kick some ass." he said, cocking the shotgun.


	4. Escape from Miami

Walsh ran outside after Riggs, followed by Richard Campbell and Cyrus Legoria, with Mutio rushing up behind them on all fours. There was an explosion behind them; Cyrus' room was hit by a missile, launched from one of the Riptide helicopters.

"Bastards!" yelled Cyrus, turning just in time to watch as his fridge was sent flying into the hallway.

The five made it to the fire escape, when a Riptide helicopter circled over, and fired bullets and missiles at the roof. One of Walsh's other men jumped off the roof just in time, and landed in the water with a big splash. Unfortunately, the flaming tail of Walsh's helicopter fell on top of him, killing him instantly.

"Tori!" Riggs hollered at the dead soldier.

"Jackson!" Walsh yelled up the fire escape.

"It's too late." said Cyrus. "They're gone. Come on, I have my own way out of here."

"Hurry, before we're overrun!" yelled Campbell.

The five went down the fire escape to the ramp that lead to the roof of the pawn shop. There, Cyrus' police boat was docked. They all got in, and Campbell started the motor. They sped away just in time to see the Ocean's Rest go up in flames.

"They'll pay for this!" said Cyrus. "Rick, get us downtown! We need to evacuate the others."

"Right!"

"Riggs and I will provide covering fire." said Walsh.

He took out his assault rifle, and Riggs took out his. They both opened fire on the chopper, Riggs yelling incoherently as he did so. Suddenly, there was an explosion of gunfire from beside them; a gunboat closed in on them, with its entire crew discharging their weapons. A single .50 caliber bullet from the gunboat's turret struck Walsh's Remington ACR, breaking it cleanly in two.

"Hit the deck!" Walsh hollered, as he ducked.

Riggs swung around, cocked his HK416, and shot the gunner and pilot, as well as two other men aboard the enemy vessel. This gave their boat enough time to swerve away. The boat sped through the flooded ruins of Miami Beach, and across the bay, until it reached downtown. Downtown, like the other parts of the city, was heavily flooded. However, there were still people living there, in the few buildings that remained intact from the floods and previous Riptide and Chimeran attacks. The buildings were all connected by makeshift ramps and bridges, mostly built on roofs and balconies. Several people were on the walkways, looking down at them.

"It's the Riptides!" yelled Cyrus. "We need to get the hell out of here!"

Several more men ran outside, carrying rifles and shotguns of their own, and started spraying the air with bullets.

"Get to the boats!" Campbell yelled at them. "There's too many to fight!"

The sounds of helicopters and gunfire filled the air, as the Riptides swarmed them. The townspeople were all running along the gangplanks and bridges, panicking, or shooting their guns back at them. Some were dropping into the water, dead or alive. Walsh and Riggs started pulling people onto the boat, while Cyrus and Campbell jumped out to lead people to other boats. Mutio followed them.

"Good idea. You should stay with us." said Cyrus. "The other people here won't know you."

Mutio nodded. She looked around, and saw the carnage. She whimpered at the wanton destruction, but nobody heard her over the agonizing screams and gunshots. Nor did they see her or even care to look at her, since they were either running or fighting to stay alive or getting their limbs shot off by enemy weaponry.

"We need to find Trey and Rockefeller." said Campbell. "Last I heard, they were a couple buildings North of here. Maybe if we used the walkways-"

"Hind!" exclaimed Riggs.

A helicopter swooped down at them, discharging bullets at the townspeople. Several people were blown apart and mowed down by the gunfire.

"We won't live long enough to get that far!" said Cyrus. "Just get who we can, and then go!"

He led a few more people to a nearby barge, and then more of them to a pontoon boat that was docked beside it. When both vessels left, a Latino man ran screaming after them, waving a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun in his hand.

"Hey, _pendejo_! that's my pontoon!" he hollered, shaking his fist in anger. "Get back here, you sons of-"

"Get down!" Cyrus tackled the boat owner to the ground, knocking the gun out of his hand.

Just in time, since the helicopter circled around again to shoot the jetty.

"You need to come with us, Alex!" said Campbell, getting Cyrus and the boat owner to their feet. "It's too dangerous here."

"You think, _Chico_?!"

Cyrus and Campbell led Alex back to their boat, to find that Riggs and Walsh had already gotten six other people aboard.

"I think that's enough!" said Campbell. "We need to leave. Fast!"

"Where's Mutio?" asked Cyrus.

"Ah, shoot!" Campbell looked around for the chimera.

"Let's go! Now!" yelled one of the survivors on the boat. "We're as good as boned if we stay here!"

"Look out!" yelled another.

The Riptides' gunboats had now caught up with them, and were now pursuing the escaping boats. Some of their bullets hit the police boat, even hitting one of the survivors in the head. The man dropped into the water, his blood staining it red as he sank.

"Hank! No!" yelled his friend, who was reaching in vain for him, before Alex pulled him back.

Cyrus and Campbell jumped into the boat, and started the motor. Riggs fired his assault rifle at a nearby gunboat, managing to hit his mark on a gunner's leg. Walsh took out a grenade from his vest, pulled the pin, and tossed it at another gunboat. The vessel exploded, and the bodies of the men aboard scattered into the water. The boat sped on through downtown. As they went, they saw more people with firearms in the buildings, blasting at the Riptides' helicopters. Walsh felt his jaw drop when he saw an elderly man up above, dropping his cane to pick up a Colt AR-15 assault rifle with a bump-fire stock, and open fire on the nearest Hind.

"Where do you people get these guns?!" Walsh shouted in surprise.

As they passed the destroyed police station, Cyrus stopped the boat. He could see a glimmering shape in the water.

"What is that?" asked Alex the boat owner.

Suddenly, there was a splash, and Mutio threw herself onto the motorboat. But she wasn't alone; A fourteen-year-old Black boy was on her back, sputtering and choking. She gently let him slide off of her and onto the floor of the boat.

"What the hell is that thing?" one of the survivors yelled.

"What did it do to that kid?" said another.

"It's one of those sea monsters! Let's kill it!" said a third, cocking his Beretta 92FS.

"Pete! No!" Cyrus yelled.

Walsh grabbed Pete, before he could pull the trigger.

"Don't shoot." he told him, taking the pistol from him. "It's with us. Now give me that before you hurt yourself."

Cyrus recognized the boy. It was Matt, Trey's kid brother. He presumed that Trey's place, which was nearby, had been attacked and Matt tried to swim away.

"Stand back!" said Cyrus. "Give the kid some air. Rick, get us-!"

He stooped over Matt, but Mutio already clamped her mouth around Matt's and started making sucking noises. Water started spurting out of her gills. Then she bent her head back up. Matt started breathing slowly, and opened his eyes.

"Are…are you a mermaid?" he asked Mutio, groggily. "You're beautiful."

Mutio blushed.

"Look out!" yelled Pete.

Just then, several armed men in leather armor, undoubtedly Riptides, jumped onto the boat while shouting fanatically. They were about to discharge their weapons, but Walsh shot one of them with Pete's Beretta, knocking his attacker off the boat. Riggs took out a Bowie knife, rushed towards the second man, and stabbed him in the chest. Then he twisted the knife out and punched the man's corpse into the water. Cyrus blasted a third off the boat with his shotgun, while Pete tackled the fourth, punched him in the face repeatedly, grabbed his IWI Jericho 941, and shot him with it.

A fifth man, who stayed on the pier, aimed at them with a Cobray Terminator. He attempted to open fire on the boat, but the gun jammed on him...repeatedly. Dropping the malfunctioning weapon, he then pulled out a suppressed Rogak P18 from his belt. However, the pistol got caught on the laces of his jackboot. There was a snap, and the suppressor and the tip of the pistol's barrel were broken off. He pointed the damaged gun at Cyrus, and pulled the trigger repeatedly. There were several clicks, but the gun didn't fire. Looking at the pistol, he winced in fear.

" _Por que?!_ " he shrieked, turning to run into the building behind him.

Pete fired after the unlucky gunman, until he was out of ammo. Fortunately, the last bullet hit him in the head.

"Never call me 'Porky'!" he hollered, throwing the empty handgun after him.

"Campbell, why in God's name aren't we going anywhere?!" Walsh asked, breathlessly.

"Because the motor's been shot!" Campbell yelled. "The Riptides must've hit it when they made the last pass!"

"Then we'll have to gun it!" said Cyrus. "Everybody, follow me! We need to find another way out of here."

He handed his SPAS-12 to Alex, picked Matt up, and carried him on his back. Then he grabbed a rope hanging from the jetty, and pulled the boat towards it. The others jumped onto the platform, and helped Cyrus off the boat. As soon as Cyrus was off the boat, he brandished his Browning HP, and cocked it. They could hear gunfire and explosions in the distance. The closer the sounds were, the more intense and rapid they became. Time was running out.

"If we can get to the top of that building up there, we can signal Rockefeller to pick us up." said Campbell. "Now let's get up there. Don't let the Riptides get you!"

They all went up the walkway into the destroyed office building. They ran down the corridors and up and down different stairwells until they reached the fire escape on the far side. By this point, the Riptides had surrounded the building with their watercraft. One of them was carrying a M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. He opened fire, and two members of Cyrus' group were hit by the sweeping stream of bullets that issued from the gun's barrel; One man collapsed to the floor, his ribs and stomach riddled with bullet holes, and the other was struck in the hip, lost his balance, and tumbled down the fire escape's stairs. Everyone else had to retreat back into the building. One by one, they all crept out of the line of fire until they reached the stairwell on the far side of the building.

After getting up to the next level, Cyrus and the other survivors exchanged gunfire with the men below, but they were relentless; another of their group had taken a face-full of hot lead during a crossfire. Now the Riptides were entering the complex through the walkways. A group of them followed the survivors up the stairs in secret, and were already gathering behind them, loading their firearms to blast them all at once.

Mutio jumped out in the middle of the two groups of humans, facing the hostiles. The sight of her surprised the attackers. What surprised them even more came when she opened her mouth. She made a loud siren-like shriek that made the attackers all stagger and drop their weapons in shock. Cyrus, recognizing the sound, turned around, and gunned down all of the Riptides before they could recover. The sound of the gunshots made Mutio wince and cover her ears.

"Good work." he said to her.

Mutio put her hands down, and frowned at him.

"What the hell was that?" asked Pete.

"We'll talk about it later." said Cyrus. "Now let's get upstairs."

Which they did, and it was a corridor-by-corridor battle to the rooftop: their only hope of escape.

They made it to the nineteenth and final floor. Unfortunately, the door was jammed shut, and the Riptides were closing in on them. Alex, using Cyrus' shotgun, blasted anyone that came around the corner.

 _BOOM-SHICK! BOOM-SHICK! BOOM-SHICK! BOOM-SHICK!_

"How the hell do we get out of here?!" yelled Campbell over the gunshots.

Riggs re-loaded his assault rifle, and shot out the hinges on the door, then kicked it in. However, it was jammed by debris on the other side. Thinking quickly, he smashed open a glass case on the wall, which contained a fire axe. He swung the axe at the door, and hastily chopped it down, and kicked back the debris. They made past the door, and came into a large room which had a collapsed ceiling. A Hind was circling overhead, staring down at the group. Any moment now, it would launch a barrage of missiles.

"This is not good." whispered Riggs.

" _Ay caramba_ , _muchachos_. We're all screwed." said Alex.

Suddenly, a loud _BAM!_ was heard, and a glowing projectile hit the Hind in its engines at supersonic speed, causing it to explode and hurdle into the water below, presumably taking some gunboats with it. A familiar red-and-white helicopter hovered into view over them. In it was Trey holding Campbell's Mambi AMR in his hands.

"Trey, there you are!" Cyrus shouted, heartily.

The helicopter descended into the room, since there was a gaping hole large enough for it to sink into. Cyrus and the others got aboard, even Mutio.

"Trey, I can't believe you used my anti-tank rifle!" Campbell complained loudly. "Rockefeller, why the hell did you let him-"

Then they heard a burst of gunfire and some explosions in the distance.

"Never mind. Get us out of here! Now!" he frantically yelled to Rockefeller. "Take us north, and don't stop!"

"10-4!"

The helicopter ascended and flew away from Miami, with its precious few passengers looking back. The Riptides were now swarming around the other buildings, and their aircraft were gunning down whatever boats tried escaping. Fire and smoke filled the air, as did the rancid smell of gunpowder against the seawater. Trey was shaking all over as he handed the gun back to Campbell.

"Take the damn thing..." he moaned, trying to catch his breath. "I ain't firing it never again."

Cyrus let Matt off his back. Trey grabbed him and hugged him.

"Oh my god, Matt!" he exclaimed, then muttered: "I thought those sons of bitches gotcha!"

"The mermaid saved me, big brother!" said Matt. "Ain't she beautiful?"

Trey looked at Mutio, who looked back at him. Trey gazed intensely at her, but then he nodded with approval.

"You did good, fish-lady." said Trey.

Cyrus looked around at the other people on the helicopter: Campbell, Walsh, Riggs, Trey, Matt, Mutio, Rockefeller, Pete, Alex, and another man.

"No..." he said, solemnly. "My god…we're all that's left. Just eleven people."

"Yeah, if you count the sea monster." said Pete.

"I _do_ count her, Pete." said Cyrus. "As of now, she's one of us. As of now, we're all in this together. As of now…I'm in charge. And what I say goes."

"No, _I'm_ in charge." said Walsh. "As a member of the U.S. Special Forces-"

"Your so-called 'Special Forces' don't mean a damn thing." interrupted Campbell. "If it were up to _you_ , we'd all be dead right now. At least Cyrus thought about evacuating us before the Riptides closed in. I say we listen to him."

"Besides, we outnumber you military meatheads nine-to-two." said Cyrus. "If anyone doesn't like it here, you can jump out and find your own way to safety. Now listen up, people."

He pointed at Mutio.

"Her name is Mutio." he said to the other men. "And none of you are to harm her, or allow anyone else to harm her."

"Why the hell not?" asked Pete.

"Isn't she one of those Zorndyke _monstruos_ that attacked Miami during the war?" asked Alex the boat owner. "Why should we-"

"Because, Alex, she may be the key to our survival." said Cyrus. "She can breathe underwater, and swim to the deepest depths of the ocean. She can also catch fish like it's nobody's business. Meanwhile, we have no fishing rods, no nets, no bait, very limited food, no dry land for miles, and none of us can swim even remotely as good as her. You should be treating her like a goddess."

"And what if she just swims away and leaves us, huh?" asked Pete.

Mutio typed on her wrist device.

"Trust me. I won't leave you. Cyrus knows what he's doing." the electronic voice said.

Most of the men, predictably, were surprised by Mutio using the device to communicate with them. But they knew they had bigger priorities on their mind, so they didn't question it.

"So what's the plan now, _gringo_?" asked Alex.

"We're going to New York." said Cyrus. "Mutio came here on a Musuca that beached nearby recently. It was dead, and she was the only survivor. She was looking for someone. Walsh tells me that another Musuca washed up near New York. We need to find out what's been attacking them. It could come for us next."

"Great." Pete shouted, throwing his arms up in disbelief. "That's just great!"

"Like you've got anything better to do, tubby?" asked Campbell.

"As a matter of fact, I sure as hell don't." said Pete. "I think we could all use a nice change of scenery, anyway."


	5. Flight

It was nearly sundown, when the helicopter landed in the water on pontoons. According to Rockefeller, they were installed just before the Riptides attacked. The survivors were all hungry and demoralized by the events that transpired earlier that day.

"Well, looks like we need food." said Cyrus. "Mutio, do you think you're up for some fishing?"

"Wait, ain't she a fish?" asked Matt. "Ain't that...you know, like askin' her to hunt her own kind?"

"Nope." said Walsh. "I've seen Zorndyke's creatures in action. They don't seem to have any special concern for the animals that their DNA is derived from. At least not the ones I've seen."

Mutio dove into the water. All the men leaned out the door to watch for her.

"Man, she better not have ditched us." said Pete. "I swear, that I'll-"

Then a fish was hurled out of the water, and hit him in the face. He looked down at the fish, a sour look in his eyes.

"What? That's it? That's all she could catch? That's stupid! I could get twenty times that much in my sleep!"

He turned to Cyrus.

"Nice job, Mr. Policeman." he ranted. "Your stupid fish-girl is as useless as a screen door in a submarine. How the hell is this little guppy supposed to feed any of us? You should be ashamed of yourself to think that she'd help us. I bet she's already ditched us to... I dunno, look for seashells or some shit. And..."

As he rambled, more and more fish were bouncing over the ramp of the helicopter right behind Pete. He turned around, and looked down. Mutio's head was bobbing in the water like a buoy, another fish dangling in her mouth. Pete scoffed.

"You were saying?" Cyrus asked.

"Blow me." said Pete.

The eleven all sat together and ate the fish raw, throwing the bones back into the ocean when they were done.

"As can you all tell, Mutio is already worth her freight." said Cyrus. "Without her, we wouldn't have gotten such a good meal out here in the middle of nowhere."

"I bet she poisoned all those fish." said Pete, half-joking.

"Then why did you eat it?" asked Campbell.

"Because I'd rather die full than starving." said Pete. "I bet you guys are just gonna crash the helicopter before we even get anywhere."

"I bet _this_ , I bet _that_." said Campbell, mockingly. "Just shut it already!"

" _You_ shut it!" said Pete. "Or I'll throw _you_ in the sea next time."

"You wanna get rough with me, fat-boy?" Campbell raised his fists. "I'll whoop your lard ass and then throw it so hard, it'll skip all the way across the Atlantic until you hit Spain!"

Then Campbell and Pete continued arguing, but Mutio and Cyrus ignored them.

"You okay?" Cyrus asked. "I know it's scary being with these people. Believe me, I have to deal with them _all the time_."

"Ha…ya..mi." she whispered to herself.

"You miss Hayami, don't you?" asked Cyrus.

Mutio nodded.

"Was there…anything special between you and him?"

Mutio thought about his question for a moment, then shook her head with a frown.

Cyrus scratched the back of her neck to comfort her. Mutio sighed. Cyrus took something out of his vest: it was a locket with a cropped photo inside. Mutio leaned to look at it. The photo was of a young woman holding a little girl in her lap. Both of them were smiling. When Cyrus noticed that Mutio was looking, he closed the locket again, and stuffed it in his pocket. His eyes and mouth were shaking, as if he was trying to tell Mutio something, but couldn't bring himself to say it. Then he cleared his throat.

"Well, I gotta…check something with Rockefeller." he said. "Mutio, why don't you…get to know the others? I'll be right here if they give you trouble."

Then Mutio turned to approach the other men. She was nervous about being in a helicopter with a bunch of strange men, but was still curious about her new companions. She first approached Riggs. A large, muscular fellow with a shaved head and lightly-tanned skin. He had a scar across his left temple, a stoic face, and piercing blue eyes that rarely blinked. He was reloading everyone's firearms and making sure all the remaining bullets were distributed evenly in the magazines. He seemed busy, so she left him alone.

Then she went to Alex the boat owner. He just stared at her, stroking his bushy mustache and muttering in Spanish. His face was emotionless and his eyes were hidden behind a large pair of mirrored sunglasses, making it hard to determine his body language. There was something about him, though, that made Mutio feel uneasy, so she didn't try getting a response out of him.

Then she went over to Trey. Though he already made it clear a few times that he detested her, she couldn't help but pity him. Just like Verg.

"Mutio…" Trey said slowly.

Mutio blinked, and opened and closed her mouth into a frown.

"I'm gonna kill myself for this, but…" he hesitated. "Thank you…for…savin' my brother."

Mutio looked at him, still frowning.

"But I'm still gonna be watching you." said Trey, before turning to speak to Matt.

Mutio approached Hank's friend, who was looking out into the ocean. He had a slim build like Trey, but with light skin, short spiky brown hair, and dark blue eyes. He wore a shark-tooth necklace, worn-out flipflops, and an old green-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with matching trunks. He seemed very upset, likely because he had lost his friend.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked her, when he noticed she was looking at him.

Mutio tilted her head and blinked her eyes. Then she turned and went to Campbell, who had just finished arguing with Pete.

"Hey, Mutio." he said warmly. "Whassup?"

Mutio looked around at the other men.

"These guys giving you the cold shoulder?" asked Campbell. "Trust me, I know how that feels. I'll introduce you to them."

He pointed to Alex, who was scratching his curly black hair.

"That's Alejandro Zerumtez." he said. "He's Colombian...or Cuban; I get them mixed up all the time...and likes to keep to himself. I don't trust him, though. I don't even understand a thing he says, and it really makes me uncomfortable being around him. Pete told me how he used to be a drug dealer or something before the flooding, but I think he was just being an asshole."

Then he pointed to Hank's friend.

"Luke McLaine." Campbell stated. "The last living surfer dude in all of Miami. Probably the best swimmer here, too, other than you."

He pointed at Pete. Pete was a portly young man with curly brown hair and bulging brown eyes. He had a lot of hair under his chin and around his lips.

"That fat-ass over there is Pete Holloway. I think he speaks for himself, the big pussy."

"I heard that!" replied Pete.

"You know what you did, asshole!" said Campbell.

"Man, I am sick of you always-" Pete began, before Riggs interrupted.

"Finished sorting all the ammo." he said. "You're welcome."

"Where did you get your guns, anyway?" said Walsh to Cyrus. "You don't exactly fish Cuban anti-tank rifles out of the ocean."

"From the M.P.D.'s weapons vault." said Cyrus. "You won't believe half the stuff they confiscated over the years: M16s, MACs, Uzis, AKs, Longslides, RPGs, Desert Eagles, Desert Cobras...Hell, we even got a-"

Rockefeller got out of his seat and cleared his throat.

"Are we ready to go yet?"

"Yep." said Cyrus, looking out into the sea. "Get us airborne as soon as you can. It looks like a fog's rolling in."

He was right; there were already dense clouds appearing on the horizon.

Hours passed, and the helicopter flew on through the night. Everyone except for Rockefeller and Mutio was resting as best as they could. Mutio frowned as she looked out into the fog below. Hayami was out there somewhere.

* * *

Hayami looked out into the ocean from the cockpit of the Grampus. He peered in vain for anything that might be swimming around them, but there was nothing. Nothing at all.

He sighed, and stared longingly into the blackness of the water. He was getting bored from all the traveling. Getting restless. Anxious. He had always been like this. He felt like there were only two reasons why he bothered staying with Blue Fleet. First, to get some excitement-and good payment-out of his life as a submariner. Second, to find Mutio; to make sure she was still alive and well. He felt guilty about the horrible things that Mutio must have been put through because of him: Causing her own kind to shun her for associating with him, being responsible for the death of the man who created her. He wanted to make it up to her as soon as he could.

* * *

Mutio shuddered, and started feeling queasy. She realized she had never been so high up before, and the fog made it worse since she couldn't see the water below, if there was still any water at all.

"Are you okay back there?" Rockefeller turned to ask.

Mutio said nothing. Rockefeller sighed. He turned to continued to fly the helicopter, until Mutio crept up to him. She looked at the controls, and thought about the Kumos that she used to pilot during the war. The layout was uncannily similar.

"It's lonely flying over the sea on a chopper where everyone is asleep." sighed Rockefeller. "But with these guys, the silence is kinda refreshing. So...you getting airsick?"

Curiously, Mutio tried to reach over the co-pilot's seat to touch one of the knobs.

"Hey, be careful." said Rockefeller. "Try not to touch anything, okay? This is delicate equip-"

Suddenly, the sky began to grow darker and darker.

"-ment." Rockefeller turned his head. "What in the world...?"

He saw something in the sky, to the East. It was vast and black, and was slowly blotting out the moon. There was a series of flashing red lights at the bottom of it. Mutio gasped when she saw it, and began shaking. She knew what it was.

Distracted, Rockefeller let go of the controls for a brief moment, and the chopper began to shake. Campbell and Luke woke with a start.

"Hey, what the hell is going on?!" Campbell growled. "Some of us are trying to-"

"Guys, I think we have company." said Rockefeller, pointing out at the Eastern end of the windshield. He handed Campbell a pair of binoculars from a compartment above his seat.

Campbell looked through it, and saw the oncoming flying mass.

"Holy…" he said, his jaw dropping in sheer horror.

At this point, the others began to wake up.

"What's wrong?" asked Matt.

"Yeah, what's the noise?" added Pete.

"Guys, there's another aircraft coming near us." said Campbell. "I don't think it's friendly."

"Rockefeller, take us down into the fog." said Cyrus, seeing the alarmed look on Mutio's face. "I don't want that thing to see us."

"Taking her down." said Rockefeller in acknowledgement. "Hang tight."

The helicopter descended back into the fog, and continued forward. In the fog, they saw a small flat islet that they could land on. Which they did, killing the engine and climbing out. A massive shadow passed over them, with loud engine noises overhead. Mutio hissed cautiously, and Matt was hiding between her and Trey in fear. In the fog, they couldn't see anything except for the black mass and six blinking red lights above. They looked up and stared in silence until the thing was gone.

"What's that thing, big brother?" asked Matt, as soon as it finished passing over them.

"I have no clue what it is." said Trey.

"Neither do I." said Walsh. "It can't be a military aircraft, unless it's not American."

The group stayed there on the islet that night, not daring to fly up again until the fog began to clear the following morning. It was still very cloudy, but at least they could still make out where to go. They checked Campbell's map to determine a safe route. Suddenly, Trey cleared his throat to draw their attention. He pointed at something in the distance, something very large.

"Is it a Musuca?" asked Matt.

"Or that airship?" asked Campbell.

The sun began to shine in the sky, revealing a massive, derelict aircraft carrier that lay broken in half, and dead in the water. It was trapped between a series of large rocks protruding from the depths of the Atlantic. The men all looked at it in awe and horror. Another ominous reminder of the world as it had been before Zorndyke's reign of terror, but also a reminder of the world during it.

"That's the _USS Calvin Coolidge_." said Walsh. "It was sunk by Zorndyke's fleet almost two years ago. No survivors. But that was near South Carolina. Did we already get this far North?"

"Seems that way." said Campbell.

"I think we should take a moment to pay our respects." said Pete.

"To the brave men and women that served on that ship..." said Riggs.

"...fighting one of the greatest terrors the world had ever-" added Walsh.

"Okay, guys." said Rockefeller. "We get it. How about a moment of silence?"

The ten humans stood in a row, some making salutes, and others merely bowing their heads in sorrow. All silent. Even the sea was calm for them. No birds or wind, either.

Mutio, who was kneeling in front of the humans, thought about the years that she served in Zorndyke's navy, as a Kumo pilot. All the ports and cities they raided. All the warships and submarines they sank to the bottom of the sea. All the people that they killed, either in combat or as they fled screaming and begging for mercy. She put her head in her hands, and started shaking.

Cyrus, though he could see how distressed she was, couldn't bring himself to comfort Mutio; he knew that she needed to reflect on this by herself. All of them did. Pete, Trey, Luke, Riggs, and Walsh glared at her at random intervals, but none of them said anything before returning their attention to the carrier. Eventually, it was time to break the silence.

"Listen up, all of you!" said Cyrus, holding his arms up. "That's a military vessel, and we're low on ammo. Since that's a carrier, we should be able to land on its flight deck and search it for supplies. Weapons, armor, maybe some canned or frozen food…"

"Legoria's right." said Walsh. "The _Coolidge_ should still have plenty of things that we could use. Assuming the Chimeras haven't already looted it all. And since we've got something else up in the sky, there's no reason to go unprepared."

"Besides, we need to refuel the chopper." said Rockefeller. "There's no way it'll be able to fly all the way up to New York without stopping somewhere."

"Then it's settled." said Cyrus. "We need to get onto that carrier now."

They all got back into the helicopter, and flew towards the enormous shipwreck. They had no trouble landing on the flight deck, which was even and steady apart from a gaping hope in the center and destroyed fighter jets, helicopters, and gunships scattered across its length.

Cyrus looked around at the group.

"This is going to be very dangerous." said Cyrus. "Matt, why don't you stay here with Rockefeller? A shipwreck's no place for a kid."

"I'm not a kid." protested Matt.

"I'll stay with Matt." said Trey. "I wanna make sure he keeps outta trouble."

"I'll stay, too." said Pete. "I'm not really a fan of tight spaces, and this tub is bound to have a lot of them."

"Okay. The rest of you will come with me and explore the ship." said Cyrus. "There's no telling what's going to be waiting for us in there, so be sure to arm yourselves."

The seven took what firearms and weapons they had from Miami: Walsh cocked his Beretta (which originally belonged to Pete). Cyrus answered with his Browning, and Alex with the SPAS-12. Campbell took his sniper rifle from a rack above the pilot and co-pilot's seats, and handed his own Beretta (which originally belonged to Walsh) to Luke. Riggs had his fire axe, and handed a Bowie knife to Mutio. Trey kept Riggs' assault rifle with him, so that they would have a weapon to protect the helicopter. Rockefeller also had his own guns: a Ruger AC-556 assault rifle, and a Colt Trooper revolver chambered in .357 Magnum, the latter of which he (begrudgingly) gave to Pete.

They traversed the flight deck, towards the control tower across the way. The sounds of their footfalls on the metal echoed, met only by the crashing of waves against the ship, and the creaking of the vessel itself.

They went into the control tower, and came to a stairwell. Cyrus spoke again.

"We'll split into teams. Luke, Campbell, and Mutio will come with me to search the lower decks. Alex, Riggs, and Walsh will go upstairs and check the top. Everyone will get back to the helicopter in an hour."

"Let's go." said Campbell. "I don't want to spend any more time in this god-forsaken place than necessary."


	6. The Carrier

Cyrus, Campbell, Luke, and Mutio traversed into the corridors of the _USS Calvin Coolidge_ 's lower decks. There was very little light, except for the red glow of Mutio's eyes, and a rancid stench was in the cold air. Campbell took out a flashlight, and flicked it on. He and Luke gasped in horror.

"Oh…lord."

The forbidding halls were torn to pieces, and half-flooded. Cables were hanging from the ceiling, and likely would have electrified the water had the power not been killed long ago. Even worse, there were rotting corpses and skeletons of men and women in naval uniforms floating in the water or laying on the floor.

"Dude…" Luke muttered.

Campbell waved the flashlight around as they continued down the half-drowned passages. There were more and more corpses around them. Not just humans, but also of their Chimera attackers. Fish-people, lizard-people, cat and dog-people, even a turtle-man with a bird's head. Various firearms lay scattered on the floor, rusted and unusable, along with spent cartridges and shells. There was an abundance of bullet holes and bloodstains along the ceilings and walls, especially near some of the bodies; a gruesome massacre obviously took place inside this part of the ship.

Mutio knelt over one of the Chimeran bodies, and whispered something with a shaking voice. Then she looked in the flooded part of the hall. She saw the decomposing, half-submerged body of a dead sailor, whose mouth and eyes were wide open as if he had been screaming in horror before he died. Then she noticed the corpse was impaled on a broken pipe that was clearly torn from the ceiling. Her eyes started to water, and she shut them. She buried her face in Campbell's arms, but didn't cry or scream.

"These poor people." said Cyrus, stopping to open a door. "I'm gonna look in here."

When he opened the door, which led to a bedroom with bunk beds. On one of the bunks was a cadaver holding a corroded Colt Cobra revolver to its damaged head. Nearby was a rotting corpse in a naval officer's uniform. It was dangling by its neck from an electrical cable that hung from a big hole in the ceiling. He could make out a swarm of flies buzzing around it. Disgusted, Cyrus slammed the door shut before the others could get a chance to look inside.

Suddenly, there was a banging of metal pipes in the distance. Campbell and Luke pointed their guns, and braced for an attack. Then there was a long, uncomfortable silence that seemed to last for an eternity. Finally, Cyrus spoke.

"Relax, it's just the ship slowly giving way to the tides." he said to them. "There's nothing alive in here but us."

"Can we be so sure we're alone?" said Campbell. "I feel like something is watching us...somewhere in the dark."

He looked around uneasily, his eyes darting anxiously left and right.

"Then let's try getting this over with as quickly as possible, so we can leave." said Cyrus. "The armory can't be too far away from here."

They advanced through the corridors, cautiously. The splashing, thudding footfalls of Campbell, Cyrus, and Luke, and the wet plopping of Mutio's hands and feet echoed in the ship. Once in a while, they heard more banging noises behind the walls, water dripping from the ceiling, or waves crashing outside against the derelict carrier. But all the while, they couldn't help but feel that they were being watched or followed by something. Cyrus was always peeking over his shoulder, Luke was looking at the doors as if expecting them to open, and Campbell was constantly aiming his rifle forwards, and peering through the night-vision scope for potential threats.

They eventually came to the carrier's galley, which had little food except for a few cans of beans that had long since grown stale and moldy. However, they found plenty of bottles of beer and water. Campbell took what they could carry in a knapsack that they found in the room, and went out into the hall.

Cyrus, Luke, and Mutio soon joined him and they continued down the hall. They were just about to turn the corner when a door behind them swung open. A shadow sped out of the room. A jolt of fear took hold of the group. Knowing that it couldn't have been someone from the other team, but not having enough time to flash his light on it, Campbell swerved around and fired a shot from his rifle, which rang loudly through the corridor. The bullet ricocheted off the walls, failing to hit its intended target. The shadow, which had a slender humanoid shape, sprinted down the corridor on all fours, disappearing into the darkness.

"Did…did you see that?" asked Campbell, shaking all over.

"Yeah." said Luke. "We're definitely not alone. Did you see how fast that thing was?"

"Let's find that armory, get those weapons, and get the hell out of here." said Cyrus, adamantly.

"Heard you the first time, man."

They hurried on, even started to run down the halls, with Mutio hurrying after them. Finally, they found the opened door to the armory. Thankfully, the room was still lined with unused weapons, ammunition, and other materials. The three humans all took bulletproof vests from the walls. Cyrus and Luke grabbed some guns and a multitude of different attachments they could use for them, while Campbell took a Glock 19 pistol (which he traded with Luke so that he could get back Walsh's Beretta), a pack of flares, and a box of ammo for his rifle. Mutio stood guard at the door, watching for the stranger. She tilted her head suspiciously as she looked outside. Cyrus offered her a bulletproof vest and gun of her own, but she waved him away without taking her eyes off the door. She slowly opened it, then crawled outside like some prowling animal.

"C'mon." Cyrus whispered. "I think she's onto something."

The three men followed Mutio out of the armory, carrying their newly-acquired firearms; Cyrus had an M4A1 assault rifle with a mounted tactical flashlight, while Luke carried an MP5K submachine gun with a laser sight and grip. Campbell still used his sniper rifle, only taking extra magazines.

Mutio led the way through the corridors, until she stopped for a moment and looked around. She started making some gasping and hissing noises at a dark shape that lay huddled behind a doorway.

"Mutio, is that you?" said a man's voice, albeit one that sounded very raspy.

Mutio nodded happily.

"Good to see a familiar face..."

"Who's there?" asked Cyrus. "And how do you know Mutio?"

The dark shape stood up, and Cyrus swiftly flashed his light on him. He was shocked to see it was another Chimeran. Like Mutio, it was a fish-person. But it had a greenish-yellow body with a slender build, long black hair that was very unkempt and drenched with seawater, and stubble on his chin. He had long pointed ears, gills on his neck, chest, and arms, and scars on his face.

"Who…what are you?" Campbell asked.

"Are you Verg?" asked Cyrus.

"No." said the fish-man. "And you should really put your weapons down."

He brandished a Glock 19 and pointed it at Cyrus' face. Campbell and Luke backed away, and cocked their own firearms in response.

"You might give someone the wrong idea by going around with an itchy trigger finger and a fully-loaded gun." he said, adding to Campbell: "Especially you."

They lowered their guns ever so slightly.

"Well, sorry." said Campbell, eyes narrowed. "We didn't expect anyone to still be alive down here, much less a Chimeran. Pardon my French, but you really scared the shit out of us!"

"Who the hell is this fish-dude, anyway?" asked Luke.

"The name's Katsuma." said the fish-man. "I have my own history with Zorndyke, if you can't already tell. I'm gonna put my gun down. How about you guys do the same?"

He lowered his Glock, and let it fall. The humans did the same with their own guns, albeit reluctantly.

"He made me this…thing that you're seeing right now." said Katsuma. "I've been swimming around for months, trying to find somewhere that I can call home. Humans didn't want me, Zorndyke's creatures didn't want me. I came here not long before you did, hoping I could get some peace and quiet for once. So what the hell brings you here? You don't look like the Navy or Blue Fleet, so are you salvagers? Pirates? Or a bunch of deadbeats looking for fun?"

"Scavenging for supplies, so we can get up to New York." said Cyrus. "How'd you like to come join us?"

Katsuma grinned, revealing his sharp teeth. "You sure?"

"Well, it's not like you have anything better to do around here." said Campbell.

"And we could use another hand." said Cyrus. "Mutio would probably like to have another Chimeran in our group, too. Wouldn't you, Mutio?"

Mutio nodded and smiled.

"And what's the deal with her?" Katsuma pointed. "Is she your pet? Slave? Girlfriend?"

"No. None of them." Cyrus shook his head. "We'll explain later, when we talk about it with the others."

* * *

Later that afternoon, the whole group sat together in the top deck of the control tower.

"My name is Katsuma Nonaka, and I was born in Osaka, Japan. I was enrolled in the INA, before I was captured by Zorndyke's creatures. I was on a mission to negotiate a truce with him, but they had other ideas. They...made me the way you see me today."

"Whoa." said Matt.

"So Zorndyke's monsters were...people this whole time?" said Trey, staring blankly. "I can't believe this…"

"Actually, not all of them. _I_ was born a human. Mutio and the others weren't. They were born the way they were in Zorndyke's culture tanks."

Katsuma continued.

"Zorndyke took animal DNA, plus the DNA and stem cells from people from all over the world, mostly the Southern Hemisphere. Taken from convicts and the homeless. Australia, Africa, South America, some islands in the Pacific. Used them to breed Mutio, and those other creatures you've seen. But he never actually tried turning living humans into his creatures. Until he caught me. I was supposed to be the first of the second generation of chimeras, but Zorndyke died before he could do the same to anyone else."

"There's a special place in Hell for that Zorndyke dude, I swear." said Luke, shaking his head angrily. "War is one thing, but that's just…unforgivable!"

"If he changed you...then how come Zorndyke never tried changing _himself_?" asked Matt.

"Because he hadn't perfected the transmutation process. After he tried it with me, he said I was just a...failed experiment." said Katsuma. "That what I became...wasn't what he had in mind. He didn't care what happened to me, so he let me leave Antarctica and go back to Blue Fleet."

"How did you know Mutio?" asked Cyrus.

"Well…" said Katsuma. "It's a long story. Let's just say I got her out of a tight spot once."

"Do you know anyone named Tetsu Hayami?" asked Walsh.

Katsuma's eyes widened.

"Hayami?" he rasped. "Yeah, he's a damned good friend of mine, he went to the academy with me. He was actually with me on my mission, the day I was captured. Then I helped him again during the War. He wouldn't have made it past Zorndyke's defenses if it weren't for me."

Mutio frowned.

"Do you know anything about a flying machine that's been attacking the Musucas?" asked Walsh.

"Yeah." said Katsuma. "I don't know what it is, but it's destroyed three Musucas so far. Including, by the looks of it, the one Mutio was on."

"Do you think it could attack humans, too?"

"I hope not."

"The flying-machine passed over this area just last night." said Cyrus.

"Then you better get out of here while you still can." said Katsuma. "It's bound to come back this way."

"Then we'll get the chopper prepped." said Rockefeller.

Katsuma looked out onto the carrier, and shook his head in disbelief.

"There's no way in hell that old piece of junk will get all of us out of here."

Rockefeller, who was standing quietly in the corner of the room, became visibly angry. He started fingering the Ruger, which he kept slung on his back.

"Like you've got a better idea, gill-breath?!" he countered, standing up quickly.

"As a matter of fact, I don't." scoffed Katsuma. "So cool it!"

"Cool it?" repeated Rockefeller, approaching Katsuma with both hands balled into fists. "I'll cool it when you apologize for dissing my chopper like that! She's my baby! I spent three months and two days restoring her! And by the way-"

"Desmond, calm down!" said Campbell. "This ain't the time to argue."

"Fine, fine." said Rockefeller.

He pointed two fingers at his eyes, then turned them towards Katsuma's and back to his, and stood with his back against the doorway and his arms folded.

"Cyrus, listen." said Walsh. "I'd like to make some suggestions."

"What now, Walsh?" asked Cyrus.

"If this airship managed to wipe out three Musucas, then there's no way in hell that we're going to make it to New York alive." said Walsh. "I suggest that we get reinforcements. Mount Weather's not too far from here. It's my headquarters, up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They can help us."

"Or get in our way." said Cyrus. "I know what you military types are like. They'll try to keep us locked up there, interrogate us for information. And God knows what they'll do to Mutio and Katsuma."

"But at least you'll have a decent place to stay, restock on supplies, and regroup yourselves." debated Walsh. "Mount Weather was built to keep the President and his entire cabinet safe during the apocalypse. You'll be protected from sharks, mercenaries, and whomever is flying that airship. Unless you feel like aimlessly flying around, eating raw fish in a cramped helicopter that's bound to run out of fuel, even if we do find some here. Not to mention, it's the least you could do for these people that you dragged along on your crazy mission."

"Like you would've gotten a better deal staying in Miami." Cyrus told the group. "I got you all out of there while we had the chance. I doubt Walsh here would've bothered with-"

"But he's got a point, Cy." Trey said. "You saw what happened to that Musuca in Florida. Do you really think we'll do any better?"

Some of the others nodded their heads.

"Fine, we'll vote on it." said Cyrus. "All in favor of going straight to New York?"

He raised his hand. Campbell, Rockefeller, Katsuma, and Mutio followed suit.

"And those in favor of going to Mount Weather?"

Walsh, Riggs, Alex, Luke, Pete, Trey, and Matt all raised their hands. Cyrus scoffed.

"Okay. Fine. Mount Weather it is." he sighed. "Mutio?"

Mutio lifted her head to listen, a worried expression on her face. She obviously knew she wouldn't like what he was going to say to her.

"I apologize in advance."


	7. The Battle of Miami

While the others were scrounging the _Coolidge_ for fuel and supplies, Cyrus, Matt, and Mutio were left to guard the helicopter. Cyrus gave a Glock that he got from the armory to Mutio, while Matt watched.

"First, you put the mag in here..." instructed Cyrus, sliding the magazine into the bottom of the grip. "Then you pull the slide back."

Mutio pulled back on the top of the gun, then let it go. It snapped back into place.

"There you go." he smiled. "Now make sure the safety's off."

Mutio flicked the safety on the side of the pistol.

"Good job, Mutio. You're catching on really fast. Now pull the-"

 _BANG!_

Mutio fired a shot out into the water. When she fired, she flinched from the recoil.

"That a girl! Now give me the gun, please."

Mutio flicked the safety back on, unloaded the magazine, and gave it and the pistol to Cyrus. Then Cyrus pointed the gun at the water, switched the safety back off, and fired another shot. Mutio looked at the water and then at the gun, confused.

"You didn't clear the chamber." said Cyrus, switching the safety back on. "I'll show you how to do that another time."

"Mr. Legoria, can I try firing a shot?" asked Matt.

"Sorry, Matt." said Cyrus. "But your brother wouldn't want you to do that...yet. Wait until you're ready to actually handle a firearm."

"Is it because I'm a kid?" asked Matt. "Because I'm not a kid. I'm a _teenager_."

"No, it's because I'm afraid you'd probably shoot someone, or yourself, by accident." said Cyrus. "Guns are very dangerous weapons to use, and not just to your enemies. I've seen too many kids your age get rowdy with guns."

Cyrus sighed, then went into the helicopter, leaving Mutio and Matt outside. Mutio started playing around with her wrist device, and Matt stared out at the ocean.

"It sure's a lotta water, ain't it?" he asked.

"Yes." Mutio typed.

"Did ya ever swim this far North before?"

"Once. During war."

"Didja ever swim from one side of an ocean to the other? Like, on your own?"

"No."

"Do ya wanna do it?"

"Maybe."

"How come you're staying with us?"

"I trust Cyrus. He cares about me."

"Do ya love him?"

Mutio paused, then continued typing:

"No. Like him, but not love him."

"Who _do_ ya love?"

Mutio made no response.

"Ya know something, Mutio?" Matt said to her.

Mutio lowered her arm, and turned to him.

"I like ya a lot." Matt smiled. "My brother might think you're a freaky fish monster, but you're cool. Best mermaid ever."

Mutio closed her eyes and giggled. Then she went into the chopper to check on Cyrus, who had pulled out the locket again from under his shirt and was gazing unblinkingly at it.

"Mutio?" Cyrus noticed her.

She nodded, and stared at the locket.

"I bet you're wondering what this is." Cyrus said to her.

He opened it, and showed her the picture of the woman and the girl.

"That's my wife and daughter." said Cyrus. "They died during the floods. Trey wasn't the only one who lost family. I did, too."

Mutio tilted her head down to look at the locket.

"My sweet Maria, and our daughter Julie." Cyrus muttered. "Julie was only twelve years old when she...you know."

Mutio looked at the photo, and pointed at the girl, then at Cyrus. Her mouth shook, as if she was stammering.

"Pa...pa?" she asked him.

Cyrus looked at her, his eyes watering.

"Yeah. I was her papa."

He frowned, and bowed his head. Mutio placed an arm on his shoulder in support, until they heard hurried footsteps. Rockefeller and Campbell came running up to the chopper with fuel canisters, and were now filling up the fuel tanks outside. And then the others came in with supplies from the ship. Among these supplies were first aid kits, as well as military uniforms and armor. The men were all happy to get rid of their tattered old garments and put full outfits and boots on, and wasted no time in stripping down to put their new clothes on. Pete had the most trouble, though, due to his body weight. Katsuma also had problems putting the uniform on, due to it constricting the gills on his body. Instead, he settled for a dark brown tank top on his chest. They also tried finding uniforms to fit Mutio and Matt, but they could find none that fit their size. Mutio again refused to put on a bulletproof vest, since it seemed too bulky and tough for her to wear.

"Well...how do you like that, Riggs?" Walsh commented. "These guys _almost_ look like a proper squad."

"All right, that's everything." said Trey.

"Good." said Cyrus. "Are we ready to go?"

"Looks like it, Cy."

Luke came aboard, holding what appeared to be a camera and a tripod.

"Yo, guys!" he shouted. "Let's all go outside. I wanna take a picture of us in a group."

The twelve gathered outside, and stood in a row next to the helicopter.

"I found this camera in the captain's quarters with the tripod and some batteries. It's got, like, film and everything." explained Luke, as he set the camera on the tripod and adjusted the height. "Anyway, I'm gonna set the timer here. Okay. Scoot over."

He sat at the edge. Mutio knelt forward in front of Cyrus, Matt sat next to her, and the men stood in a row, making poses with their guns. A white light blinked on the camera, and it made a loud click.

* * *

The group set off in their helicopter. It ascended into the air, and sped away from the carrier.

"So long, Calvin Coolidge." said Rockefeller, as he looked down at the derelict. "Not exactly my favorite president. _That_ would be Barack Obama."

Trey laughed heartily.

"Ha! My favorite's Honest Abe." he said. "And not just because I share his last name."

"Your last name's Abe?" asked Pete.

"No! Lincoln!" said Matt.

"Hey, guys!" said Luke. "When I did some looking around that carrier, I also found some music CDs in one of the quarters."

He opened a crate, took out a jewel case that had the cover removed, and pulled out a slightly dusty compact disc that had illegible text scrawled on it with faded out ink. There were several others just like it in the crate.

"How's about some tunes for the trip?"

"Sure, why not?" said Rockefeller. "We could use some entertainment. My last disc was misplaced ages ago, or I would've played something by now."

Luke put a disc in the player and pressed the "Play" button. Immediately, "Japanese Boy" by Aneka started playing.

* * *

The chopper flew North for many long hours, day and night. It was laden with nine armed and armored men, a teenaged boy, two Chimerans, and a small stockpile of salvaged supplies. Even as it was nearing sundown for the third time since leaving Miami, the helicopter sped on.

Mutio looked down at the land below. It seemed strange to her to go so far inland, as she was bred to live in and near the sea. And once again, she had an uncomfortable feeling about being so high up. But at least they would land once in a while so that she could get back in the water and hydrate herself.

The helicopter was nearing a large hill. It began to shake, due to the turbulence.

"Come on, come on." Walsh muttered as he looked out the helicopter's windshield.

The helicopter passed over the hill, where they had a clear view of Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center. It was atop one of several large mountains that jutted from the countryside like a row of crooked teeth. There were many buildings and towers (both military and civilian), surrounded by walls, fences, and trees. A convoy of military vehicles was moving down the streets. A soldier in the dorsal turret of a JX-1 Tortoise cybertank was shouting orders to his comrades on a megaphone.

On closer examination, several of the buildings looked heavily damaged, and smoke was lifting up from a few of them. An alarm started blaring in the distance. Something was wrong.

"What the…?" Riggs mumbled, confused.

"On second thought, this actually looks like a very bad idea." said Pete. "We should turn around."

Before anyone could argue or agree with him, a pair of F-55b Cyclone fighter-bombers swooped down around the helicopter, and started circling around it.

"Uh, I think they want us to land." said Luke.

"We should do that now." said Walsh.

They noticed, looking down on the ground, that more military vehicles were assembling outside the complex's gates, and soldiers were exiting them with loaded weapons. Cyrus muttered something obscene under his breath.

"This is going to suck." said Campbell.

As soon as they landed outside the base and left the chopper, several men rushed forward to surround them. They were wearing black-and-green armor, with full-face helmets, urban-pattern camouflage fatigues, and thick leather gloves, They were all armed with M4 carbines and Mossberg 500 shotguns.

"Drop your weapons!" yelled a soldier. "Now! Show us I.D.!"

Walsh spoke first.

"I'm Lieute-"

But before he could finish, Mutio and Katsuma left the helicopter.

"Chimeras!"

The men immediately seized the group, some of them tackling the ones that refused to drop their weapons.

Cyrus found himself pinned against a truck, being frisked. The other men in the group were going through the same routine. Matt was being held by two troopers, even though he bit and yelled as hard as he could to get away from them. Katsuma was pinned to the ground by a group of soldiers all pointing guns at him. Mutio was also being held at gunpoint, while the troops nearby were making cat-calls and kissing sounds at her behind their helmets. She hissed angrily at the one nearest her, who pistol-whipped her across the back of her head in response.

"You get the hell away from her, you bastards!" yelled Cyrus, breaking free from the soldier.

But he was quickly tazed and forced to his knees. He was beaten by three men with stun batons, whacking and kicking him without giving any chance for him to breathe. Fortunately, his bulletproof vest from the carrier absorbed most of the blows, but it still didn't protect his head and limbs.

"Sir, I can't find any I.D. on these guys." said a soldier. "No dog tags, no card, nothing. And they're are all wearing uniforms from the _Coolidge_."

"How can you tell?!" said Campbell.

"Because the patch says so." said the soldier, pointing at his shoulder. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves, looting our navy's ships."

"Damn imposters." said another soldier.

"This is Zulu Three-One. We're going to need an APC near Point Foxtrot Zero-Zero-Niner." said a third soldier into his helmet's built-in radio headset. "We have a…dozen prisoners that need transport for immediate questioning, including two Chimerans! Over."

"Roger that, Zulu." replied the voice on the radio. "APC is headed your way."

"Listen, you're making a mistake!" said Walsh. "We're on your side, dammit! I'm in the Special Forces! You must let us go!"

"Likely story, buddy." said the soldier that was frisking him. "What unit is your group with?"

Then a man ran towards them, also wearing a uniform but without the helmet.

"Rangers! Stand down immediately!" said the man. "For God's sake, that's Lt. Walsh!"

The soldiers immediately stopped searching and brutalizing the humans, and got them back to their feet, but didn't let go of Mutio or Katsuma.

"Those two are with us, Sergeant." said Walsh, pointing at the Chimerans. "You must let them go immediately."

"First, explain why the hell you brought the two of 'em damnable monsters with ya." said the sergeant. "My boys could've killed ya for that! Some of us are still shaken from the whole trouble with Zorndyke, you know."

"They're witnesses to a series of attacks throughout the Atlantic." said Walsh. "Attacks on their kind. We're trying to figure out who or what caused them."

"Well, we didn't do it." said the sergeant. "Not that we know, anyway. Hell, we just got attacked ourselves."

"Was it a huge, black airship?" asked Walsh.

"That it was. Dropped a crap-ton of bombs all 'round us, killed thirty-six of our personnel, wounded twelve others, and left a hell of a mess! Then it just left like it was nobody's business."

"That airship's what attacked the Chimerans."

"Really?" asked the sergeant. "Well, damn. Brigadier-General Wells will want to know about this. You need to get that information to him as soon as possible."

"I know that, Monroe." said Walsh.

"Listen, I'm real sorry about the little…miscommunication my Rangers had with your group. As you can tell, we're all a bit unhinged from what happened…" said Sgt. Monroe. "Soldiers, let them all go! Now!"

The Rangers freed Matt, Cyrus, Mutio, and Katsuma, and allowed them to regroup with the others. Katsuma was breathing hoarsely, and Mutio's eyes were never as narrow as they were now.

"Listen, there's something you need to know." said Walsh. "Miami's been overrun by the Riptides. If you could send word-"

Sgt. Monroe guffawed loudly.

"Miami, huh?" he repeated, now sporting a devilish grin on his face. "Heh, heh, heh, Ain't that the craziest…damn…coincidence? The higher-ups just sent a platoon of SEALs down to that area. And you know something else? Their C.O. owes me a favor. Maybe I'll remind him of it as soon as you're all on your way."

* * *

Miami was a war-zone, facing the worst battle it had seen since Zorndyke's war against mankind. The canals that were once streets were thick with corpses, destroyed watercraft, and combat. Corridor-to-corridor, building-to-building, neighborhood-to-neighborhood, the fighting raged on. Hinds were racing around the city, hunting for whatever resistance Miami had to offer. The Riptides themselves were taking those who refused to or were unable to fight, and rounding them up to use as slaves.

On the north-western edge of the downtown district, dozens of U.S. Navy SEALs were assembled on naval ships.

Captain LeGrasse, looking through his binoculars from the safety of a gunboat, observed as a Hind launch a salvo of missiles into an office building. He could make out the bodies of civilians being flung from the windows by the explosions.

"Bastards…" LeGrasse muttered, before turning to the soldier to his right. "McTavern, keep the Stinger steady."

"Yes, sir." said McTavern.

"Squad Two, You're up. Get a foothold in the city." LeGrasse spoke into his walkie-talkie.

"Roger that, sir." buzzed the voice of a man on the other end.

A U.S. Navy gunboat sped past him on the water, en route to the city. The SEALs aboard the vessel were armed with MP7 submachine guns and grenade launchers, and were covertly unloaded at different areas in the city.

Lt. Kylie Richardson, who was on the opposite site of LeGrasse, adjusted the frequency on her own walkie-talkie.

"Squad One, we need you circle the perimeter and provide covering fire for Squad Two!" she shouted. "Get moving!"

"On it!" replied the squad leader.

Another gunboat advanced towards Miami, staying along the outskirts of the city. These SEALs were armed with sniper rifles and rocket launchers. They went into the buildings and placed themselves at different vantage points.

LeGrasse turned to McTavern.

"Corporal, do you have a lock on that Hind?"

"I have a lock, sir." said Corporal McTavern, who was focused on the aircraft, his arms shaking from the weapon's weight.

"Bring her down." said LeGrasse.

There was a deafening BANG! next to him, and a rocket zoomed through the air towards the helicopter. It impacted against the left engine. The helicopter was consumed in a ball of fire, spinning out of control before finally dropping into the sea with a massive splash.

"Good work, corporal." said LeGrasse, lifting up the walkie-talkie.

"Stand by…"

Another helicopter, as well as three gunboats, raced towards the site of the first helicopter's crash.

"Engage! Weapons free!"

* * *

The Grampus was nearing Miami. Kino and Hayami could make out the explosions above the water's surface. Closer, closer, and closer still. Eventually, it came upon a submerged semi truck, indicating they reached what was once a street. The explosions were now closer than before.

"Looks like we came at a bad time." said Kino. "Hayami, what should we do?"

Suddenly, the Grampus picked up a radio frequency.

"Squad Three is engaged with enemy at North Beach!" said a voice. "Requesting immediate fire support."

"Southwest downtown...overrun! The Riptides...too many." said another voice. "Evacuated all we can. Pulling back. Repeat, pulling back."

Kino spoke into the radio.

"Attention, this is Lt. Kino of Blue Fleet. What's the situation?"

"Blue Fleet? What took you guys?" replied a voice. "This is Captain LeGrasse, U.S. Navy SEALs. Miami is being invaded by the Riptides."

"Riptides? How many?" asked Kino.

"All of them, by the looks of it."

"We're coming to your assistance."

"Be my guest, Lt. Kino! Be advised. The fighting is focused on the southwest and beach areas. I'm ordering my troops to pull back North."

"Good." said Kino. "This is gonna get really messy."

"That's the downtown area in front of us, right?" asked Hayami.

"Yeah." replied Kino. "Why?"

"Good. Let's raise some hell."

The Grampus was getting closer and closer to the water's surface. Finally, it emerged to meet the sight of the half-sunken city, and the faint sounds of gunfire and explosions all around them. Some of the fighting ceased. Many people were running away from them, while others turned to shoot at the newcomer. Their bullets ricocheted off the Grampus and dropped into the water.

"Our turn." smirked Kino, adjusting the joysticks of the gatling cannons. The aiming system appeared on her on-board computer, marking all of her potential targets. She clicked the trigger on the joysticks, and unleashed red-hot lead on her enemies. The firing rate and caliber of the cannons were so intense, Most of the targets were torn to pieces by the bullets, or evaporated into pink mist.

"Careful, Kino." said Hayami. "We don't wanna shoot the good guys."

"Roger that." said Kino. "Hayami, let's go."

"Aye-aye." replied Hayami.

The Grampus sped on through the flooded downtown of Miami, blasting whomever shot at them and ramming into gunboats. Eventually, they reached a dead end: a high-rise building with dozens of gunmen shooting down at them.

"Time to do some demolition work." said Hayami.

"What?!"

The Grampus accelerated on towards the building. Hayami clicked a button, and several torpedoes were launched into the structure. The high-rise was engulfed in explosions, and the Grampus rammed its way into it and out the other side. The high-rise collapsed behind them into the surrounding buildings, but they didn't stop.

"Are you crazy?!" yelled Kino. "There could've been civilians in those buildings!"

"Did you hear what they said on the radio?" Hayami argued. "They've already cleared everyone out."

But there was no time to discuss it now. A Hind was pursuing them from above, firing its machine gun turret and launching rockets.

"Time to put this baby's anti-missile system to the test." said Kino.

She pressed a button on the controls. The computer locked-on to the rockets. The Grampus' shoulders opened up to reveal miniature turrets. The turrets fired a series of laser beams that neutralized the rockets and detonated them prematurely.

"Now you're mine!" chuckled Kino.

She pulled the triggers, and the gatling cannons blazed once more. The Hind's engines and cockpit were riddled with bullets, and burst into flames. The Hind exploded as it passed over them, and crashed into the building behind the Grampus.

"Hayami, let's go!"

The Grampus accelerated away from the building, as more armed men hung out the windows of the other buildings, and opened fire on them with assault rifles and submachine guns. The Grampus opened fire on the men as it passed, easily annihilating them. They made a turn, where dozens more gunboats were waiting for them, moving their machine gun turrets into position.

"Take a break, Kino!" yelled Hayami. "Now it's my turn!"

The Grampus launched multiple torpedoes into the incoming fleet of gunboats, creating a river of fire and death before them. Bodies were flying everywhere, and explosions were blossoming, one after the other. They could make out people cheering in the buildings and makeshift walkways above. Kino smiled as she looked at them. It warmed her heart to know that even with all the losses it took in recent months, Blue Fleet was still able to help the world at large.

"Kino! Choppers at 9:00!" Hayami's voice yelled to her.

Two more Hinds closed in on them from above. They fired down at them with their machine guns, followed by a barrage of missiles. The Grampus' anti-missile laser defenses neutralized the rockets, detonating them like the others. The resulting explosions consumed the nearer of the Hinds, destroying it and raining its metal fragments down on them. The wreckage struck the Grampus hard.

"Holy f-" exclaimed Hayami.

The computer started beeping.

"Oh no." said Hayami. "The anti-missile system's been disabled. And we've still got one chopper left."

The remaining Hind circled around again, and discharged its machine gun once more in vain. Kino pulled the trigger on the joysticks in response, but she only managed to fire a few rounds before she was met with a beep on her computer. A message appeared on the screen that made her groan:

OUT OF AMMO.

"Hayami, take us under!" said Kino. "I need to switch to sea-to-air missiles!"

But before the Grampus could descend into the depths, a rocket from one of the buildings struck the Hind, and utterly obliterated it.

"What the…?" Kino said.

She looked up to analyze the trajectory of the rocket and determine where it came from. She could make out several men in military uniforms looking down at her from the roof of an office building, giving her quick salutes. One of them was holding a rocket launcher that was still smoking. On the other side were what were clearly civilians, hollering and cheering and waving their arms in the air.

"Hayami, I think we just found the good guys!"


	8. Mount Weather, Part 1

The military convoy approached the main gate of Mount Weather. The gate opened, and a platoon of soldiers, all wearing similar armor and uniforms to those worn by the Army Rangers, lined up to challenge the convoy for entry. Cyrus' group was led out of the vehicles. Some of the men at the gates were pointing their guns at the chimeras, until the commanding officer of the platoon approached Walsh, and the two exchanged salutes.

"Good to have you back, Lieutenant." said the officer.

"Same here, Major Carson." said Walsh.

"Where's the rest of your men? I only see Riggs."

"K.I.A., sir." said Walsh. "Riggs and I were the only survivors."

"Sorry to hear that. And who are they?"

"The rest are civilians from Miami, Florida."

"Oh, great. More refugees?" said Carson, rolling his eyes.

"No." said Walsh. "They are just passing through…hopefully. The chimeras are with us, too."

Walsh looked around at the destroyed buildings.

"This is a disgrace." he scowled. "How could one airship be allowed to do all this? We're supposed to be a highly-fortified installation!"

"It's interesting, to say the least." Carson explained. "The bogey was so high up, and it was a very dark, cloudy night. We couldn't pick it up on radar or our automated anti-air defenses because it had some sort of...stealth technology."

"Like our bombers?"

"Yes, but apparently far more advanced. We didn't even know it was there until it fired at us, at which point it already passed clean over us and was almost out of range. It was clever enough to hit all our aircraft that could possibly intercept it. Only a few fighters, choppers, and cargo aircraft were left intact, and we think it was only because they still needed to be refueled. Whatever we _could_ scramble after it got shot down and their missiles detonated prematurely in mid-air. The general will explain the rest."

Walsh stepped forward, before Carson held a hand up in front of him to stop.

"Before any of you can go further, we need to-"

"Decontaminate us?" asked Walsh.

"I'm afraid so." said Carson. "Since you are harboring two chimeras in your group, and you've all had prolonged exposure to them, it's necessary. We simply can't risk infection. There's no telling what those two are carrying."

"Wait, what did he say?" asked Luke.

* * *

The twelve were escorted to a small building just inside the base. There, several technicians in hazmat suits and gas masks were waiting for them. When they arrived, they were brought to a room where they were each stripped of their clothes and armor (except for Mutio, who was already nude), lined up against a wall, and hosed down with a creamy yellowish-orange fluid. The fluid, which stuck to their skin, had a potent aroma which filled the room instantly, making Katsuma and Mutio cough. They were quickly escorted into the next room of the building, which contained a row of shower stalls. They were lined up again, and ordered to stand in front of the nozzles as the water doused them clean.

Amusingly, Mutio actually tried standing up against the wall to catch the water in her mouth, and gurgle it. Katsuma did the same, except that he was able to stand upright without any support. Once they were all done, they were brought back into the first room and given towels to dry off. Once they dried off, they each had syringes injected into their arms by the techs.

" _Dios mio_ …" muttered Alex, rubbing his arm where he was injected.

"As a safety precaution, all of your equipment and clothing must be confiscated." said the lead technician, to the group. "Don't worry, you'll get your things back soon enough."

"Fine by me." said Walsh.

More technicians came inside, each carrying with them clean clothes and boots for the group to wear. One of them tried unsuccessfully to put clothes on Mutio.

"Put them on!" said the man. "Please!"

First he tried putting a pair of pants on her, but she wriggled out. Then he tried offering her a jacket, but she hissed and snapped her teeth.

"Don't be stubborn, and just put them on!"

Mutio backed away, and shook her head angrily.

"She doesn't wear clothes." said Walsh.

"And besides, she looks fine without-!" argued Campbell, who was still getting his vaccination shot. "Ow!"

"Hold still, sir." said the man with the syringe.

"Well, she needs to start." said the technician. "Human or not, we still have rules against…indecency. Or did you not notice that she's-"

"But I thought she was already wearing clothes!" said Luke.

"Nope, the yellow and black parts are just part of her skin." said Walsh. "She has Siamese cat and Koi fish DNA. Both animals are known for having multi-colored patterns in th-"

"Wait, wait, wait a minute." Pete threw his hands up. "You're saying we spent almost half a week on a helicopter with that mermaid...and she was _naked_ this entire time?"

"Excuse me, gentlemen." said the technician, tapping his foot impatiently. "But what are we going to do about the nereid's...clothing problem?"

"Oh, right." said Walsh. "Just…I don't know, put a swimsuit on her. Or a bra and bikini, if you have to. Make sure it's something small, to fit her frame."

"Yes, sir." said the technician. "I'll be back in a moment."

The technician left, and returned a couple minutes later, carrying a gray one-piece swimsuit meant for female trainees. Mutio looked at it, then took it earnestly. She tried fitting it on, only succeeding after a minute of struggling and grunting. It was a tight squeeze, especially with the pink wing-shaped appendages protruding from her collar area. Thankfully, there was an adjustable cleavage window that allowed her appendages to stick out like normal.

"There." said the technician. "Much better."

"Just don't expect her to do any fashion shows for you." said Campbell.

"Can we go now?" Matt asked the man that was vaccinating him.

"Yes, you can go." he replied.

Matt went over to Trey, and they started talking to each other. Cyrus went up to Walsh and the lead technician.

"So we got a shower and a shot." said Cyrus. "What now?"

"We report to Brigadier-General Wells, of course." said Walsh. "He'll want to hear whatever Mutio and Katsuma have to tell him."

* * *

The Grampus finally reached the far end of North Beach, where the last few Riptide gunboats remained. They were followed by vessels carrying Navy SEALs. Suddenly, one of the gunboats sped forward towards the Grampus. It carried a large figure.

"What is that?!" yelled Hayami.

"I don't know." said Kino. "It looks like it's gonna ram us!"

"Not if I have anything to say about that." said Hayami.

He fired a torpedo at the gunboat. The figure jumped off just before it exploded, and landed right on top of the Grampus with a loud thud. Kino gasped. The figure was a man, and he was in a large suit of powered armor. The armor had a blue-and-black camouflage color scheme, an opaque and featureless faceplate, and some sort of jetpack mounted on the back. The attacker was carrying machine guns in both hands.

" _¡Come plomo caliente, maldita máquina!_ " yelled the man, whose voice was distorted by the audio transmitters on his helmet. " _Esto es para mis hombres!_ "

The attacker fired both machine guns into the Grampus' frame. When the bullets proved ineffective, he began jumped up and down on the Grampus, hoping to break into its armor. The Grampus accelerated away, towards South Beach. The armored assailant rocketed after them, running on the water as it did so. The Grampus tried swerving left and right, going around and even through some of the buildings. But he mimicked their patterns seamlessly. He kept firing at them until he finally caught up to them again. He attached the machine guns to his back in mid-flight, on either sides of the jetpack, and instead started punching the armor with his metal fists. The strength and weight of these hits were great enough to put large dents in the Grampus. Before he could hit the cockpit of either pilot, it descended into the water. The attacker jumped into the air, and hovered for a moment. Three Navy vessels caught up to them, and all started firing at the armored Riptide.

" _Miami es nuestro!_ " the attacker hollered. " _¡Muere, cerdos estadounidenses!_ "

He dropped onto a Navy boat, took the machine guns back out, and started blasting apart the SEALs that were aboard. Then he jumped again, and rocketed towards another boat. But before it reached it, the Grampus quickly emerged from behind him. Reaching for him with unparalleled speed, the Grampus' arm seized his jetpack.

"¡¿Qué demonios es esto?!" the armored Riptide yelled, as it struggled to break free.

He fought to aim a machine gun at the Grampus' arm, and repeatedly fired at it. Then he kicked back repeatedly, until he broke loose. But the jetpack was damaged from the release, and blasted him through the wall of a nearby building. The Navy ship that the attacker was planning to destroy next docked at the building, and its passengers disembarked. The SEALs advanced into the building until they reached the room where the Riptide crashed.

The man, a Cuban with a heavily tattooed face and arms climbed out of his destroyed armor, and picked up one of the machine guns. He opened fire on the SEALs, who shot back at him from behind cover.

"Die, _Americanos_!" he yelled at them over the gunfire. "Die! Die!"

When his gun ran out of ammo, he dropped it, picked up the other one, and bolted away with the SEALs in pursuit. Meanwhile, the Grampus and the other Navy vessels engaged the remaining Riptide gunboats. Suffering heavy casualties and the apparent loss of their leader, the Riptides' gunboats quickly turned and sped out of the city. The SEALs on their own gunboats cheered. The Grampus docked at the building, and its pilots both disembarked. Kino was carrying a Devereaux TM7A1 pump-action submachine gun, while Hayami had an Intratec TEC-22 machine pistol. Another squad of SEALs docked nearby, and approached them.

"Good job out there, Blue Fleet." said the squad leader. "Sgt. Baker, U.S. Navy SEALs."

"Lt. Mayumi Kino, Blue-6." Kino responded. "Need a hand with this last guy?"

"Sure thing." said Baker. "The more, the merrier."

Hayami, Kino, and the SEALs raced through the building to find where the firefight had gone. As they went, they found bullet holes, destroyed furniture, a few corpses of slain SEALs, and trails of blood. Three floors up, the other group of SEALs had the Riptide cornered. The man's eyes were bloodshot, and he was shifting in place, cradling his machine gun in his hands. The squad leader of this group spoke to him.

"Armando del Huego, your invasion of Miami is over." he told him. "You're done. Game over. Now put your weapon down and come quietly. We will put you on a helicopter to our headquarters for-"

"Suck on this, _pendejos_!" Armando roared, firing his machine gun at the SEALs. Just then, a shot rang, and Armando's machine gun was broken in two. The shot didn't come from one of the men in the room, but a man in kevlar armor on one of the nearby rooftops. It seemed as though he were a soldier. However, this was unsual, as none of the support teams had reached that part of Miami Beach yet. In a panic, Armando jumped out the window, landed on a makeshift walkway a floor below, and then dove into the water.

Kino and Hayami's group saw him land in the water.

" _Pendejos_! I kill you all! I get more men, and bomb your-" he yelled to the SEALs above.

As he yelled, Hayami, Kino, and the SEALs in both groups started aiming their guns at him. Once he realized this, he slowly put his hands in the air, even as he floated in the water.

* * *

Brigadier-General Verne Wells, a middle-aged man with graying brown hair and mustache, was sitting at a desk and reading Walsh's report. He took off his glasses, and looked at Katsuma. Katsuma was sitting in a chair, flanked by soldiers. He was sipping from a water bottle.

"How does it taste, Mr. Nonaka?" asked Wells.

"Fine." rasped Katsuma. "Just what I needed."

"Then are you ready to tell me what you know about this airship?"

"Yeah, but I don't really know much more than you do." said Katsuma. "A week ago, I was swimming through the Atlantic, trying to find someplace I could call home. Then I came across some Kumos in the water. All of them were destroyed…the pilots were nowhere to be found!"

Katsuma paused. Wells gestured for him to continue.

"But I had no idea what could have happened, since they were…nowhere near any…populated areas. The next day, when I was roaming an isle in the Caribbean, I…saw it."

"The airship?" asked Wells.

"Yes." replied Katsuma. "It was dropping...things in the water. I don't know if they were bombs. But in minutes, a Musuca came up from under the water, butchered by those things the airship dropped."

"Did anyone survive?" asked Wells.

Katsuma dropped the empty bottle on the floor, and placed his hands on his head.

"I…don't…know." said Katsuma. "All I remember…is the airship…"

"Yes?"

"The airship was flying towards me." said Katsuma. "I swam away as fast as I could. But it didn't catch me. I don't know much else."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, sir." groaned Katsuma.

"Very interesting, Mr. Nonaka." said Wells. "Very well, you're free to go. Guards, escort him to his quarters. Your…medical exam…starts in a couple hours. Send the next one in, too."

"What do you mean, 'medical exam'?" asked Katsuma. "What are you going to do to me?"

His fists tightened.

"Nothing dramatic." said Wells. "My men simply wish to examine the changes made to your body-"

"By cutting me open, like a frog in Biology class?!"

"No! Heavens, no." said Wells. "We're modern men, not barbarians. We'll just give a basic blood test, X-rays, and a few other things that will allow us to understand your condition. You'll see when you get there. Trust me."

"I dunno if I can trust _anyone_ these days." Katsuma muttered angrily.

The soldiers grabbed Katsuma, stood him up, and led him outside. Two more men entered.

"General, our long-range communications system has finally been repaired." said one of them.

"Good." he said after them. "I have a call to make."

He picked up the phone on his desk, and started dialing a number.

* * *

Mutio took up a defensive stance, hissing threateningly at the large, muscular shark-wolf-human hybrid that stood in front of her. He shook with anger, and struck Mutio several times with his sword, even as she tried dodging him. Mutio was lucky he didn't take the time to unsheathe it, or the blade would have cut her to ribbons. Mutio dove into the water, and tried to swim away as best as she could in her present condition.

The shark-man howled in rage, repeatedly smashing his sword into the edge of the pool. He hit harder and harder, until the blade snapped off.

"You…traitor!" he shrieked, throwing the useless hilt at Mutio as she swam away from him.

Mutio swam into the center of the Phantom Ship's bridge. She was surrounded on all sides by her sisters. The nereids were all nearly identical to Mutio herself with the exception of one detail: blue eyes. Bright blue eyes which now glowed in the dark water, piercing her with a kind of hatred she had never seen in them before.

"Banish her!" the shark-man hollered, crouching and leaning forward. "Banish her!"

He started to furiously pound the floor with his fist.

"Banish her!"

Mutio was outnumbered, and too weak and injured to go anywhere.

"Traitor!"

She bowed her head in shame. She knew she would never be able to survive expulsion from the ship. She was still weak from the thrashing that her sisters and Verg had given her, she had nowhere else to go, and even if Hayami was out there somewhere, there's no way the rest of the humans would ever take her in. She was better off being killed on the spot.

"What are you waiting for?!" the shark-man yelled at Mutio's sisters. "Get her off my ship! I never want to see her again!"

The screen above him turned on.

"Verg." said a soft voice. A voice that was all too familiar to any Chimeran creature.

Everyone in the large, hazy room looked up. The face of an elderly man with graying blond hair was looking down at them, through thick glasses that shined ominously in a shaft of sunlight.

"Papa?!" said Verg, standing up. His long mouth curled into a smile. "Have you come to watch me send this worthless coward away? Do…do you want me to kill her for you?"

"Explain, please."

"She helped the enemy, papa!" growled Verg in protest. "She turned her back on her own kind…for a member of Blue Fleet! One of those damn land-men! I tried talking sense into her, but then she tried to kill me! Banishment is the least she deserves."

"There is no need to judge her so harshly." said Zorndyke. "Mutio is just a child. She is…simply confused about these thoughts she has about this man from Blue Fleet."

"She doesn't deserve your sympathy, papa! She deserves exile at the very least."

To Verg's surprise, Zorndyke smiled a little.

"I ask you to calm down, Verg." he said. "Think hard. If you banish her, then you would only encourage her to side with Blue Fleet. But if you let her stay on the ship, you may give her time to decide where her loyalties lie…and how she really feels about this…man. It would also be a shame to get rid of one of the best Kumo pilots in your fleet so easily."

"There's more to it, isn't there?" asked Verg. "What aren't you telling me, papa?"

Zorndyke looked down at Mutio, and scrutinized her.

"Papa?!" asked Verg again, confused and irritated. "I really…don't understand."

Zorndyke bent his head, his eyes now becoming visible.

"Just promise me you will keep her on the ship, at least for now." said Zorndyke. "Can you do this for me…son?"

Verg let his head tilt down. Then he nodded slowly.

"Yes…papa." he said, with much reluctance. "I'll do what you say. But I don't like this at all."

The screen turned off. Verg looked down at Mutio, grinning evilly.

"How do you like that, Mutio? You get to stay here for a while..."

He guffawed maniacally, as Mutio whimpered.

"That means you get to watch me destroy that human friend of yours, along with the rest of his crew. _That_ will make you change your mind."

Then he turned to her sisters.

"Keep her under guard. If any of you even think of letting her escape, then _you_ will be banished instead!" he said, turning to the rest of his crew. "Now get this ship ready for battle! We have a war to win and humans to kill!"

Mutio felt the strong grip of her sisters seizing her and pulling her further underwater. All she could think of was Hayami. She wanted him to save her again, now more than ever.

Suddenly, there was a slamming noise.

* * *

Mutio opened her eyes with a surprised gasp. She was waiting for what seemed like almost an hour in a small square room, with a small rectangular table and two chairs. She was sitting in one of them. A scientist, who had just come in to evaluate her, was in the other. The only other distinguishing features in the room were a large rectangular mirror on one of the walls, an analog clock on the opposite wall, and a surveillance camera above the door.

"Hello, Mutio." said the doctor, an elderly man with short white hair and a beard. "My name is Dr. Cameron. And my, what a fascinating specimen you are! Don't worry, I won't keep you here long. I simply want to get to know you. How do you feel?"

Mutio was frowning, her head bowed down. She made no response.

"No need to be shy, my dear." said Dr. Cameron. "I'm your friend. You can tell me anything."

Mutio looked up at him, still frowning. She started typing on her wrist device.

"Water please."

"Of course, my dear." said Dr. Cameron, giving her a water bottle.

She gulped it down, then placed the bottle on the table.

"Water tastes different." she typed. "What is in it?"

"Nothing, Mutio." said the doctor. "It is simple tap water. But you usually swim in salt water, don't you? Seawater?"

Mutio nodded.

"That would explain it, then. So how do you feel right now?"

Mutio continued staring at the empty bottle.

"Do you feel…lonely at all?" asked Dr. Cameron. "Afraid, perhaps? It is always a scary thing, being someplace new, talking to people you've never met."

Mutio nodded her head.

"Do you want to leave right now?"

Mutio nodded again.

"Very well, just give me ten minutes of your time, and you will be free to go." said Dr. Cameron, smiling. "Okay?"

Mutio lowered her head.

"I see you're quite adept with that device you're wearing." said Cameron. "I take it that Lt. Walsh gave it to you?"

Mutio nodded her head again.

"You know, I was one of the people that worked on it." said the doctor. "In fact, I was also a member of the Project Blue team. You know what that is, right?"

Mutio leaned forward.

"Yes. The same team that Zorndyke, your creator, was a part of."

Mutio looked at him confused.

"Ah...Zorndyke never told you about Project Blue, did he?"

Mutio shook her head.

"Well it's true, either way." said Cameron. "Me, Zorndyke, and the rest of the team were meant to help the world at large. Growing plants in deserts, ending world hunger, that sort of thing. But sadly, your creator...sorry, your 'papa'...had other ideas. After he lost his family during a civil war that was going on in his homeland, he sort of...snapped."

Now Mutio's full attention was on him. She had never known much of Zorndyke's human family, much less his own life from before he created her and the other Chimerans. He always seemed very sad about something, but she never had an idea why, much less thought about it. That was Verg's job. Hers was to follow his orders.

"See this photograph?" asked Cameron.

He produced a photo of a group of scientists in what appeared to be a shack in a tropical environment. He showed it to Mutio.

"You can see Zorndyke in the back there." he said. "And that's me in the lower right corner. Obviously, I've grown some facial hair since then."

"Uh...huh." Mutio grunted.

"The rest are Dr. Norinami, the Asian fellow sitting down. Dr. Janice Wittenberg from Brisbane is the woman next to Zorndyke. The bearded fellow is Dr. Leonid Grigori Maximov from St. Petersburg in Russia. The man on the opposite side from him is Maurice de Vries from Paris. Between them's Professor George Payne from London. The Black woman next to me is Sheryl Cross from Seattle, Washington. Very clever lady, she was."

Mutio nodded.

"Maurice drowned during the floods when they hit his house in Normandy. Norinami was killed by Zorndyke's navy last year, when Blue Dome was destroyed..."

Mutio frowned. She could remember that, since she was there when the Phantom Ship destroyed Blue Fleet's underwater headquarters. It was also when she saved Hayami from drowning, at the risk of betraying Verg.

"But I digress...Just one more thing." said the doctor. "I need to examine your personality. I'm going to take out some cards, and ask you questions related to them. I want you to tell me which card you would choose as your answer."

Dr. Cameron took a notepad, a pen, and a pack of cards out of his coat pocket. He placed three of them on the table. He pointed at them.

"This is a car." he pointed at the first. "This is a boat." he pointed at the second. "And this is an airplane." he pointed at the third.

"Which of these are you most familiar with?" he asked her.

Mutio pointed at the boat card.

"Yes, I should've known." Dr. Cameron chuckled.

He scrawled some words on the notepad, put the cards back in his pocket, placed three more on the table, and pointed at them.

"Which of these do you find the most relaxing?"

One card depicted a city, the second a mountain, and the third a tropical island. Mutio pointed at the island. The doctor wrote more words down on the notepad, removed the cards, and placed four more on the table.

"If you were given the opportunity to earn one of these items as a reward, which one would you want?"

The first card had the picture of a gun, the second a trophy, the third a bag of money, and the fourth a plate of food.

* * *

On the other side of the mirror, which had a two-way screen, Cyrus, Carson, and several other people were seated. All of the military personnel were staring at Mutio, and had determined looks on their faces.

"What's the point of all this?" Cyrus asked them.

"We need to make sure that she's mentally stable, and willing to cooperate." said Major Carson. "We don't want her lashing out at the general when he talks to her."

Cyrus couldn't help but be reminded of his time as a policeman, and all the occasions where he watched, even participated in, the interrogation of arrested criminals. He was usually the "Good Cop" in those scenarios, and worked hard to make sure the suspect would never have to deal with the "Bad Cop", since he despised police brutality. He didn't even want to imagine what these people had in mind for Mutio if she decided to snap and attack the doctor.

But thankfully, that wasn't the case. Mutio and the doctor continued for several more minutes. Finally, the door opened and two soldiers went inside. One of them whispered into Dr. Cameron's ear, and he nodded. The doctor stood up, clasped Mutio's hand, and gestured for her to go with the soldiers. She reluctantly obeyed, and crept out between them.

"What's going on?" asked Cyrus.

"They're taking her to the general." said Carson. "Let's hope she's as cooperative with him as she was with the doc."

Cyrus watched Mutio, who was visibly upset. When the door opened, she hesitated for a moment, as if contemplating an attempt to escape. But she didn't. One of the soldiers lightly poked her with the barrel of his assault rifle, and gestured for her to follow them outside. So she did. It was when the door closed after them that Cyrus decided to speak up.

"Major, can I please go with her?" he asked. "Mutio looked scared. She might feel more comfortable with-"

"Negatory, Mr. Legoria." said Carson. "Now that we've evaluated the Chimerans, we're going to do the same to you and your friends. Starting with you, which is why we let you in here at all."


	9. Mount Weather, Part 2

Now it was Cyrus' turn in the room. He was looking across the table from the same man that evaluated Mutio. There was something about this man's gaze that pierced his mind.

"Silas Legoria, is it?" asked Dr. Cameron.

" _Cyrus_ Legoria." corrected Cyrus.

"Sorry. Tell me, how do you feel?"

Cyrus bowed his head and stared at the flat surface of the tabletop.

"Scared." he said, solemnly. "Not for myself, but for my friends. For my city. And for Mutio."

"Do you miss Miami, Mr. Legoria?" asked Dr. Cameron.

"Of course I do." said Cyrus. "It's my home. Or, at least it was. Before everything went to Hell."

"It's remarkable how Miami remained standing, even after the tides rolled in." said Dr. Cameron. "Most, if not all, of Florida sank beneath the waves."

"And most of the population sank with it." said Cyrus. "Not even the Happiest Place on Earth escaped the flood. Luckily, Miami had so many skyscrapers. They're made of very strong stuff. Even Zorndyke's navy had trouble penetrating them during the war."

"So why did you leave?" asked the doctor. "What inspired you to lead an expedition to New York?"

"It was Mutio." said Cyrus. "My group found her on a little isle in the Keys, the only survivor of an attack on her kind. We wanted to make sure that whatever attacked the hybrids wasn't out to get humans, too. Then the Riptides attacking us forced our hand. They outnumbered us, and we had to get the hell out of there."

"Interesting."

The doctor scratched his beard.

"Tell me, Mr. Legoria. What is the relationship you have with this…creature? You are of course aware that she is…not human?"

"Of course I do." Cyrus nodded. "I also know that until recently, she was a weapon in a mad scientist's arsenal. Part of Zorndyke's navy, out to destroy mankind. Or at least they were, before Blue Fleet stopped him."

"So why do you show such compassion towards her, knowing all of this?" asked the doctor.

"Well, for starters…" said Cyrus. "She saved me a couple of days ago. Then I saved her not long after, when she was injured by those same brigands. I couldn't let her die. When I was a police officer, I took an oath to protect and serve those who couldn't help themselves. She needed my help, so I gave it to her."

"But that can't be all the only reason you've risked your life to help her." said Dr. Cameron. "Just how deeply do these feelings for her go?"

Cyrus hesitated.

"It's complicated." he said.

"Friendship? No, there's more than that. Are you...attracted to her, perhaps?"

Cyrus looked at the two-way mirror, then back to the doctor.

"There's no need to be shy, Mr. Legoria." said Dr. Cameron. "We are all civilized people here."

"No." said Cyrus. "I'm _not_ attracted to her. For your information, doctor, I had a wife and daughter before the floods took them from me. I'm not planning to forget about them anytime soon."

"A daughter, you say?" nodded Dr. Cameron. "I'm so sorry to hear that. What was your daughter like?"

"She was very quiet, very kind." he said. "She liked to swim, sing, and play. Kinda like Mutio, actually..."

Cyrus paused awkwardly.

"So..." said Dr. Cameron. "Are you saying that Mutio reminds you of your daughter?"

"Kinda..." said Cyrus, slowly.

"And the fact that Mutio has also taken an apparent interest you is also very fascinating. She lost her creator, Zorndyke, just last year. Zorndyke was more or less her father."

"Yes, I figured that out already." said Cyrus.

"So...do you think maybe you two have developed some kind of...connection?"

Cyrus shifted uneasily. His teeth were clamped behind his lips, and his hands tightened into fists.

"I don't know." he grunted. "Can we talk about something else, please?"

"It seems this matter is troubling you." said Dr. Cameron. "Very well, let's change the subject..."

* * *

Hayami and Kino were sitting in a makeshift bar in the center of Miami's downtown district, along with several civilians and Navy SEALs. A radio in the corner was playing "The Working Hour" by Tears for Fears. Hayami was smoking, while Kino talked to Captain LeGrasse.

"That's it, then?" she asked him. "Are you sure these Riptides are done with?"

"It seems so, Ms. Kino." said LeGrasse. "I'm sending my men back inland with the prisoners, but I'll leave some here to make sure the others don't pull anything again. Plus, all this fighting's bound to attract sharks and other unwanted wildlife."

"Good." said Kino. "Your commanders should be proud of what their troops did here."

"It seems like we got here at the nick of time, huh?" added Hayami. "I say we really turned the tide."

"Ha!" exclaimed a nearby SEAL.

"Yes, well…" said LeGrasse. "You two did a good job, But I assure you that my men could've did just as well without your…outside interference."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" asked Kino.

"We're SEALs, honey." said Lt. Richardson, who was sitting on the bar next to LeGrasse, her legs crossed. "This stuff is routine for us. We're trained to deal with the crap you just saw all the time. A bunch of punks in gunboats and Hinds are picnic ants to us."

"Even when they start breaking out powered armor? Where the hell did that Armando guy get that from, anyway?"

"That's what we're going to find out once we take Armando back to our base." said LeGrasse. "That was a classified prototype exo-suit he was using. There's no way that he could've salvaged it from some derelict warship or abandoned military base. Someone higher up had to give it to him. And whomever did it is in deep shit."

Suddenly, the communicator on Kino's hip started beeping. She held it up to her ear for a couple of minutes. She nodded on and off, and said:

"Hmm….uh-huh. Wow, really? That's great. I'll tell Hayami about this! Kino out."

She turned.

"That was Blue-6. They just got a call from Mount Weather up North. They have the survivors from the Musuca up there."

"Mount Weather?" repeated LeGrasse. "That's our headquarters!"

"Did they say what the survivors were?" asked Hayami.

"Yes! They said they found Mr. Nonaka. And a nereid's up there with him, too."

Hayami dropped his cigarette on the floor, and his eyes widened slowly. He got out of his seat and walked quickly up to LeGrasse.

"Captain, I need to get up there…now!" he told him.

"Slow down, kid." said LeGrasse. "We can't just let anyone come with us. We're an elite military force, not some taxi service."

"They're orders from Blue Fleet." said Hayami.

"But we're not Blue Fleet." said Richardson. "We're the United States Armed Forces. Since you're on _our_ turf, you have to play by _our_ rules."

Kino stood up.

"Don't you know who he is?!" she yelled. "This is Tetsu Hayami. He's the guy who killed Zorndyke and stopped the war. If it weren't for him, all of you would be dead right now."

"Oh, yeah?" Richardson turned to look at Hayami, grinning. "You're a lot younger than I thought you'd be, Hayami. And a lot more handsome, too."

Hayami said nothing. Richardson got off the bar, and walked up to him.

"You know, I heard a rumor that you got it on with one of those creatures." said Richardson, in a smarmy manner.

Hayami's fist tightened, and his teeth were clenched.

"One of those mermaid things. What do they call them? Nereids? I could see why. If this little crybaby over here is the best woman that Blue Fleet has to offer, I wouldn't blame you for making due. How'd you like a real woman for once?"

"I'm not talking to you." growled Hayami, turning to LeGrasse. "Captain, I want to see those survivors. Let me talk to your commander, or Blue Fleet will do the same."

"I suggest you listen to them." said a voice.

A man in torn camouflage fatigues and heavily-damaged kevlar armor limped into the room on LeGrasse's side. He had a mud-spattered and scoped HK417 battle rifle slung on his back and a SIG Sauer P226 in his left hand. He was a limber man with blond hair that was burnt off in several spots, a badly-charred left ear and cheek, a face caked with dried-up blood and ash, and a deranged look in his dark, bloodshot eyes. His right arm was wounded, and clinging to his chest with a dirty rag. His snarling mouth had several teeth that were chipped on the same side as the ear.

Kino gasped when she saw him. She hadn't seen someone that looked so beaten and bruised since the war. And the man looked like he just blasted his way out of the gates of Hell itself.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Richardson.

"Sgt. Bobby Jackson." growled the armored man. "U.S. Special Forces. I was part of the team sent to recover the Musuca survivor, but I got separated and left here when the Riptides attacked. They destroyed our helicopter, and I've been waiting for evac for the past few days. Do you have any idea how hard it is trying to navigate a flooded city this size, especially when it's under attack?"

He sat down at the bar, near where Richardson was sitting. He put the gun down and poured himself a drink one-handed. He drained the glass quickly, then picked up the gun again, and clumsily pointed it at LeGrasse. Then said with an eerily calm voice:

"Now listen, you pompous jackasses. I've been stuck in the middle of this hell-hole for more than three days, I'm badly injured and in serious pain, and my patience is running thin. You _will_ get me out of here. I'm going back to HQ, and I'm taking these two with me."

He glared at LeGrasse, then aimed his pistol sideways at Richardson's head, and cocked it threateningly.

"Got it?!" he yelled.

The other SEALs in the room pointed their own firearms at him, but LeGrasse gestured for them to stand down.

"Very well, Sergeant." he said, waving his hand to calm him down. "I'll call in a chopper to airlift you, Mr. Hayami, and Ms. Kino to headquarters."

"Make that a cargo chopper." said Hayami. "We're not leaving our Grampus here. In fact, I think we'll be needing it."

* * *

Trey was taken to a holding cell, which he shared with most of the men from Miami. Only Cyrus, Walsh, and Riggs were absent. He looked around at the others.

"The fish-lady's more trouble than she's worth." he said. "And these people are psychotic."

"Hey, you wanted us to come here." argued Campbell. "If you just voted to go to New York, we wouldn't be locked up in here."

"New York?" asked Trey. "Why the hell would any of us want to go to New York? Because Cyrus wants to play detective? What about the rest of us? So what if some other Musuca got blown up there. Why the hell does Mutio want to go there?"

"She mentioned looking for someone named Verg, and then-"

"What?"

Trey's eyes narrowed, and he exhaled through his nostrils. He slowly walked up to Campbell, and then grabbed him by the neck with lightning-fast speed. Then he started shaking him frantically while leering into his face.

" _Verg?!_ " he roared. " _She was looking for Verg this whole time?!_ "

Rockefeller and Luke ran up to Trey to pull him off Campbell.

"Calm down!" said Rockefeller. "What's the matter with you?"

"Verg's the one that attacked Miami. He's the captain of the Phantom Ship! He killed my dad, and all those people!"

He looked at them, staring especially at Matt.

"I remember when it happened." he explained, shaking all over. "When Zorndyke's fleet bombed the city, some of those monsters left their Musucas to take prisoners. I tried to save them, but it was too late. Verg wanted to make an example to the rest of us, and executed them all one at a time. One of the people they took was my daddy. Verg chopped his head off, and I could do nothing but watch! Then that son of a bitch dropped his head in the ocean and just sailed away!"

"Trey, just relax." said Matt.

"It's our _dad_ he killed, Matt." he said. "How can _you_ , of all people, tell me to relax? And not just our dad. All my childhood friends are also dead because of Verg and Zorndyke. Countless others, too. Miami, and all over the world."

His eyes welled up with tears, and he panted heavily.

"I don't care if Mutio ever killed anyone. For now, my sights are set on Verg." he said. "I'm going with Cyrus and Mutio to find Verg. I swear that I'll make him pay for what he did."

"But the war's over." said Rockefeller. "Can't you just…let it go?"

"Yeah, dude." said Luke. "You're really giving off some bad vibes."

"I'll show _you_ some bad vibes!" Trey growled at him.

He raised a fist, and was about to smash it into Luke's face, when the cell door opened. Trey held his fist in place, and turned his head to see who came in. Walsh and Riggs entered. Both of them were wearing new uniforms.

"Gentlemen, please." said Walsh. "Can't you at least try to act civil? We can hear your arguing from ground level."

Trey swung around and punched the wall with a loud pain-stricken grunt.

"Walsh, I want to kill Verg." he said.

"Son, there are lots of people in the same queue as you." said Walsh. "I have my own problems with the Chimeras. The _Coolidge_ sinking wasn't an accident. Some of the finest people I ever served with died on that ship, mercilessly slaughtered by Chimeran butchers. My brother and cousin were among them. Not a day goes by where I don't wish I could find a way to bring them back from the dead and destroy those that murdered them."

He took a deep breath.

"But that's in the past." he continued. "Now, things have changed. You need to accept that. Getting angry now will get you nowhere. The problem we're facing now is bigger than some vendetta. Verg's not the enemy right now, this airship is, and whoever or whatever is using it."

Trey started to cool down.

"Sorry, guys." he told them, while he stared at the wall. "You didn't deserve this. Matt, I didn't want you to see me like this."

"We need to know what the airship is…and why it's attacking the Chimerans."

"Man, I don't give a rat's ass if it's attacking the…" said Trey, turning around. "Wait a second. Didn't the airship attack this base, too?"

" _Si_." nodded Alex. "It did."

Trey went up to Walsh.

"This place is holding other creatures besides Mutio and Katsuma." he said. "Isn't it?"

Walsh sighed.

"I'm...I'm not authorized to answer that question."

"Sounds like a 'yes' to me." said Pete.

"Damn it..." Walsh muttered.


	10. Reunion

"Ever since the day the uprising began...since that day, I have not been alive." said Dr. Jung Zorndyke to Tetsu Hayami, the man who would soon kill him. "I have been dead."

Kino walked away to contact the Blue Fleet, and Hayami was left with Zorndyke. Just the two of them, and a gun. Hayami fastened his grip on his pistol, but still didn't pull the trigger. This man had a right to know.

"Just one more thing, Zorndyke." said Hayami. "I want you to answer some questions."

"Hmm?" asked Zorndyke.

"When your creatures attacked Tokyo Bay…" Hayami said, lowering his pistol. "I saved one of them from the wreckage of her Kumo."

"Interesting." said Zorndyke. "Please, tell me more."

"Then, after Blue Dome was destroyed and I was separated from the fleet, she saved me from drowning." said Hayami. "She even protected me from her sisters when they came to kill me."

"I take it that it was Mutio?" asked Zorndyke.

Hayami gasped.

"I thought something was troubling that poor girl." said Zorndyke. "It seems she's taken a liking to you, my boy. Good. Then there _is_ hope that my children can co-exist with humans. But she seems very uncertain as to how she feels about the strange human that saved her."

"How do you know this?" asked Hayami.

Zorndyke smiled and said: "i have my ways of checking on my children."

He sighed.

"Verg will not take my passing very well." he muttered. "Poor lad."

"What should I do the next time I see Mutio?" asked Hayami.

"You should let her go, until these troubles are over, and she has matured enough to decide how she really feels about you." said Zorndyke. "I'm sure you are mature enough to let her decide her own destiny?"

Hayami paused, and nodded.

"Is there anything else you would ask of me?" asked Zorndyke.

Hayami set aside his confusion, and narrowed his eyes again. He raised the pistol again.

"No."

He pulled the trigger. Instead of a gunshot, he heard a voice.

"Mr. Hayami!" yelled Kino.

* * *

Hayami opened up his eyes. He, Kino, and Jackson were flying in the helicopter for three days now. There were two other soldiers sitting with them. Now they were passing over solid ground.

"Hayami, the pilot said we're almost there." said Kino.

Hayami shook himself awake.

"Good."

He stretched his arms, and yawned. He started fingering the handgun that lay in his hip holster, now weather-worn and slightly rusted. Jackson's eyes followed his hand.

"What is that, a…a .22 caliber?" he said, half-chuckling.

"Yeah." said Hayami. "Got a problem?"

"It's just…" said Jackson. "Can I look at that?"

Hayami nodded, then withdrew the sidearm, and gave it to Jackson. The wounded soldier twirled it in his hand and casually pointed it at Hayami. Hayami stirred slightly, as if preparing to swipe it back, before Jackson flipped the sidearm backwards to give it back to Hayami.

"Huh! I haven't seen anyone use a .22 caliber pistol in ages!" said Jackson. "That's a Browning Buckmark if I ever saw one. Ten bullets, .22 Long Rifle ammunition. Probably forty or fifty years old. Am I right?"

"That's right..."

"Then that weapon's an ancient piece of crap."

"I don't need your advice, sergeant." said Hayami. "The gun works just fine, as far as I'm concerned."

His grip tightened on the pistol.

"I used this 'ancient piece of crap' to kill Zorndyke." said Hayami, frigidly.

"So you killed a frail old man with a frail old pea-shooter." spat Jackson. "Yeah. I'm so goddamn intimidated."

Hayami was now gripping the gun so hard that his hand was shaking. Jackson noticed this, and withdrew his P226 from his holster. The two were pointing their guns at each other faster than Kino could blink.

"My pistol has fifteen-round mags, chambered in .40 S&W, and is eleven months and four days off the assembly line. Twenty-seven kills: ten of them human, the rest Chimeran. Your move."

They glared at each other as they flicked the safeties off and cocked their guns. After a few seconds, Hayami smirked. Jackson did the same. They both exchanged chuckles, then switched the safeties back on and put their weapons away.

"Ugh, boys with toys." grumbled Kino in disbelief.

"Sergeant, we're here." said the pilot.

The helicopters now reached Mount Weather. They slowly descended and landed. Jackson, Kino, and Hayami disembarked while the Grampus was unloaded from the cargo chopper, and Armando and other Riptide prisoners were taken from a third. A group of soldiers, recognizing Jackson, escorted them into Mount Weather. At the gate, they were quickly challenged by Major Carson.

"Who the hell are you people…?" Carson began, before gasping. "Oh my god…Sergeant Jackson! You're still alive! We all thought you died in Miami…"

"Who were you expecting? John Rambo?" asked Jackson. "Do you have those Musuca survivors?"

"Yes, sergeant." confirmed Carson.

"I humbly request that you take us to them." said Jackson. "They were my mission, I have a right to see them. And these two are coming along. They're VIPs from Blue Fleet."

"Sergeant, I recommend that you go to the infirmary first, before-"

"Now, sir."

"Very well."

* * *

In a lower-level research lab, lay a vast cylindrical water tank with a transparent frame, where Mutio and Katsuma were both swimming. Various technicians were standing around the tank, analyzing them. At that moment, Brigadier-General Wells arrived, flanked by Walsh and Riggs.

"What's the status on these two?" asked Wells.

"The female, subject Mutio, is for the most part quite healthy." said one of the techs.

Mutio was swimming much faster and more gracefully than Katsuma, who seemed to struggle to swim in the water.

"And what about Mr. Nonaka?"

At that moment, there was a buzz from the nearby loudspeakers.

"Brigadier-General Wells, we have VIPs from Blue Fleet coming down to see the Chimerans." said a voice on the intercom. "With them is, uh...Sgt. Jackson."

"Jackson?" repeated Walsh. "He's alive?"

At that moment, Mutio stopped swimming, her fins retracting back into her arms and legs. She watched as the door opened again, and seven humans came inside. Five of them were armed and wearing military uniforms. One of these men, who looked horribly disfigured and even manic, stopped to talk to Walsh and Riggs. Another was a young Japanese woman in her late teens, with short copper hair and matching eyes. She was wearing a skin-tight white-and-blue jumpsuit. Mutio shuddered when she saw her; the woman was all too familiar to the nereid. Though her hair had grown a little longer and spikier in the intervening months, she still recognized her as the woman that was last with Hayami in Antarctica. The same woman that tried to shoot her with a submachine gun in Tokyo.

Finally, there was a young Japanese man in his twenties. He had messy black hair, dark brown eyes, tanned skin, and wearing a similar outfit to that worn by the woman. Though the man had grown something of a goatee on his chin since their last meeting, she could tell it was him. She felt her heart skip.

"Ha…ya…mi." Mutio mouthed.

Katsuma followed suit, and turned to see what Mutio was gazing at. He, too, was surprised.

"Tetsu…" he said, even though his voice was rendered unintelligible in the water.

Hayami walked up to the water tank, his eyes widened, and let his jaw drop. The sight of what was inside the tank was nothing short of a miracle to him; not only was his long-lost friend Katsuma in there…but so was Mutio. He placed a hand against the glass, and Mutio did the same with her own hand.

After so long, the human's brown eyes met the red of the nereid's. Hayami turned to the men behind him.

"Get them out of there." he told them.

"Excuse me, but we're trying to conduct research on these two-" said a technician.

"Drain the tank, Lawrence." said Wells. "That's an order. I believe this is a reunion that is long overdue."

"Yes, sir." said the tech.

He approached a nearby console, pressed some buttons, then pulled on a lever and some switches. The water started to escape the tank into a series of tubes extending from the base. The two hybrids sank to the bottom, just as the water left the apparatus completely. The covering raised towards the ceiling, leaving the hybrids dripping wet atop a soaked platform. Some of the soldiers cautiously raised their firearms. Katsuma walked up to Hayami.

"Long time, no see." he rasped.

"Good to see ya, Katsuma." said Hayami. "Thought the ocean would've gotten the better of you."

"Nah." said Katsuma. "If I couldn't handle a life at sea, I never would've bothered joining the academy."

"Thanks for helping me back in Antarctica." said Hayami.

"I owed ya for helping me get out of that damn iron lung." said Katsuma. "I think someone else wants to meet you right now."

Katsuma stood aside for Mutio, who crept up to Hayami.

"Mutio?" Hayami asked.

"Ha...yami!" she stammered in response.

She came closer now. She started to groan. Her legs staggered as she struggled to stand as upright as she could. She leaned forward and threw her arms over Hayami's shoulders. Hayami supported her as best as possible with his own arms. All the people present just looked at them. He gazed at her glistening white face, into her bright red eyes. The last time she was in his arms, they were aboard a dying Musuca, and they were separated by an oncoming tide of blood-dyed seawater as the beast sank into the Southern Ocean.

The last time he had actually seen her, she was swimming away with Verg to mourn the passing of Zorndyke. It was from far away, and Hayami was too wounded to try and follow her. But he could tell that she had been badly injured, and believed the injuries came as punishment for associating with him, or from the undersea battle that was raging at the time. He reached her left ear, and felt it with his index finger. Mutio gasped, but made no attempt to struggle. The ear was half-chewed off the last time he saw it. Now it looked as though it regenerated. Though there was still the faintest amount of scar tissue on it.

He also looked at her right arm, and saw there was a gash on it just below the shoulder, seemingly from a gunshot wound. Hayami shook his head in disbelief. To him, the idea of someone hurting her seemed inhuman. He resumed eye contact with her.

"At least you're safe." Hayami told Mutio. "I was hoping I'd find you again, Mutio. I hope these guys have been nice to you."

Mutio nodded.

"Good." said Hayami, who looked at the swimsuit she was wearing. "I see they also got you to put some clothes on. That suit actually looks very good on you."

He looked down at her other arm, and saw she was wearing some kind of device on it.

"What's that?"

Walsh walked up to them, grabbing Mutio by the wrist, and lifting it up.

"It's a text-to-speech device." he explained. "We've been using it to communicate with her."

"And who the heck are you?" asked Hayami.

"Lt. Jacob Walsh, United States Special Forces." said Walsh, turning to face Hayami. "I'm the one who brought her and Mr. Nonaka here. Jackson and Riggs here were in my unit when I was sent to Miami to pick Mutio up, but then Jackson got separated from us when the Riptides attacked. Riggs and I found Katsuma on the way back. Wouldn't have even got out of Miami without some...local help. I take it you're Tetsu Hayami? It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Both Katsuma and Mutio have told us a lot about you."

Hayami looked at Mutio.

"Is this true?"

Mutio nodded again.

"Yeah." nodded Katsuma. "It's all true."

"I think these two have a lot to tell us, Lt. Walsh." said Kino, speaking up for the first time since they arrived.

"That they do." said Walsh. "And so do we."

* * *

Kino and Hayami were taken to the general's office, where they informed of all that had happened since Mutio's Musuca washed up in the Florida Keys.

"Well, I'll be damned." said Hayami, in disbelief.

"So that's what's been attacking the Musucas?" asked Kino.

"That's correct." said Wells. "And that same airship attacked us a few days ago, as well."

"And why?"

Wells sighed.

"Listen, I would tell you, but it's considered classified information."

"Oh, really?" asked Hayami. "Classified information? Haven't heard that one a million times."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come on." said Wells.

The door opened, and a soldier went inside.

"Sir, we just received a message from NATO Command." he said. "Another Musuca has just surfaced in Canada, on an island off the coast of Nova Scotia. The Canadian military are searching for survivors now."

"Excellent." said Wells. "I'll be sure to inform Blue Fleet. They can take it from here."

"But Blue Fleet's all the way down in Jamaica." said Kino. "It would take too long for them to get to Canada."

"By the time they get there, it would probably be too late for the survivors." said Hayami. "That airship could get to them before the fleet does."

"So do you propose to go there yourselves?"

"If necessary." said Kino. "General, we'd like a military escort to take us there."

"No can do, Ms. Kino." said Wells. "Between the battle in Miami and the recent attack on this headquarters, my resources are spread too thin. There's not much I can spare. I can provide you and your Grampus some transportation, and loan you Mutio and Mr. Nonaka, but that's about..."

An idea dawned on him.

"Wait, maybe there _are_ some men that can help you." said Wells.

* * *

Kino, Hayami, Mutio, Katsuma, Walsh, Riggs, and Jackson went down to the training area. They were led to a large room that appeared to be both a gym and a firing range. As soon as the doors opened, they could hear loud grunting and hurried footsteps. Two men were practice-fighting in a corner. A third was sprinting along a track at the far end. There were three others using weights and exercising. Behind a wall of thick soundproof glass on the Western end, another two were discharging their pistols at a cluster of moving targets; one had a Browning HP, while the other had a Glock 19.

"I am Lt. Kino from Blue Fleet. General Wells said you'd be coming with us up North for a very important." said Kino. "I hope you're up to the job."

"Well, I'll be damned." said one of the men. "A woman! An actual woman."

"How observant." snarked Kino.

Mutio went up to one of the others, who had come in from the firing range. He was older than the others, and had a scar on his cheek.

"Hey, Mutio." said the man. "Good to see these bastards didn't hurt ya."

"Mutio, you know this guy?" Hayami asked.

Mutio nodded.

"Tetsu Hayami?" asked the man.

"Yeah, that's me." said Hayami.

The man walked up to him, and they shook hands.

"Good to finally meet you." he said, wearily. "I'm Cyrus. Cyrus Legoria."


	11. Departure

Cyrus tightened his grip on Hayami's wrist, and pile-drived him onto the floor. Then he pinned him down as hard as he could, twisting his arm against his back. Hayami bent his legs, and kicked him away. Then he sprang back up, and punched Cyrus twice in the chest. When he tried hitting him a third time, Cyrus grabbed him by the elbow, and pulled him towards him while simultaneously sidestepping, causing him to fall flat on his face. Hayami groaned.

"Get up." Cyrus told him.

Mutio hissed, and sped towards Cyrus, and vaulted over him, clinging to his back. Locking her arms around his elbows, she pushed herself forward against him, and brought him to the ground, restraining his arms. She hissed viciously into the back of his head. Her grip on him was getting tighter and tighter. Hayami got back up, walked up to Cyrus, took the Browning Hi-Power out of his holster, and pointed it at him.

Cyrus kicked back his legs, flipping Mutio off of him. He rolled away, and jumped back to his feet, just as Hayami raised the pistol and pulled the trigger.

 _BANG!_

Cyrus stumbled and collapsed to the floor again, where he lay spreadeagled. Mutio crept up to his body. She was frowning, and her lip quivered. She reached to check his pulse.

Suddenly, Cyrus coughed.

"Okay. Time out, time out." he told them.

Mutio backed away, and allowed Cyrus to stand up. They had been training for hours, and now it was time to take a break. He stretched his arms and groaned as he set himself straight.

"Great work, both of you." he told them, brushing the dust off his clothes. "You've got a hell of a grip, Mutio. My arms are still aching."

Mutio smiled.

"As for you, Tetsu." said Cyrus. "Very clever to take my gun and shoot me with it. I thought you might try that, which is why I loaded it with blanks. You…did anticipate that too, right?"

"Actually, I didn't." said Hayami. "But I wasn't trying to shoot you, anyway. I was aiming right above your shoulder. There was a horsefly buzzing around your head."

"Oh, that's all." said Cyrus. "You've got a sick sense of…ow!"

He felt a sharp pain in his neck, placed his hand over it, and quickly turned around. A black insect buzzed away from him.

"Should've put real bullets in there." said Hayami, dryly. "Just saying."

Campbell, who was standing nearby, was laughing.

"That isn't funny, Rick." said Cyrus. "That bite could've been infected…it hurt like hell, too."

"I know, but it's still…"

The horsefly flew right on his cap, making him jump back with a yelp, knocking the cap off his head as he flailed his arms to get the horsefly away from him.

"Is it funny now?" asked Cyrus. "Okay. Let's get my bug-bite checked, and then meet with the others."

* * *

The next day, after everyone was finally interviewed and evaluated, the Miami group was in the recently repaired Miller's Bar & Grill on the surface of Mount Weather (there were many civilian buildings here, in addition to military), celebrating their departure with a big dinner. Accompanying them were Hayami, Kino, Mutio, Katsuma, Riggs, Jackson, Walsh, and Dr. Cameron. A radio in the room was playing "Up & Up" by Coldplay.

Luke was shedding tears of joy while munching on a double bacon cheeseburger with ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise.

"Dude, this is _so_ awesome." he wept. "I thought I'd never get to eat this stuff again."

Once he finished the burger, he got started on another. Trey and Matt were eating ribs, Campbell had a plate of nachos with warm, melted white cheddar cheese, Cyrus had BBQ chicken drumsticks with bleu cheese dressing. Alex had soft-shell tacos with grounded beef and shredded Colby cheese. Pete had a T-bone steak with cornbread and mashed potatoes. Hayami and Kino settled for chicken and rice.

"Thanks for letting us have all this wonderful food." said Cyrus.

"It's no problem at all, Mr. Legoria." said Dr. Cameron, with a smile. "The owner here's a very good friend of mine, and he owed me a favor. Besides, I imagine that you've all had quite enough of seafood…except for Mutio, of course."

Cyrus bit into a drumstick, chewing noisily.

"Four years straight of fish, soup, and tropical fruit." he muttered. "Not something I'd recommend."

"These ribs are…damn good." said Trey. "Just like my daddy used to make. I sure miss him. If Zorndyke's monsters didn't kill him, he probably coulda made more of these."

"So you lost your family to Zorndyke, too?" Kino asked Trey.

"Yeah." said Trey. "My daddy was a great guy. You would've liked him. Calm, smart, worked well under pressure. Just like most cops should've tried to be."

"Wait, didn't you say Cyrus was a cop, too?" asked Kino.

"Yeah." said Trey. "He wasn't my dad's partner, though. Hell, they weren't even in the same department; My dad was Miami-Dade, Cyrus was City of Miami."

"So wait a minute, your city had two departments?" asked Kino. "How does that work?"

"We actually had three: City of Miami, Miami-Dade, and Miami Beach. City of Miami's just that, the city of Miami." said Trey. "At least the parts on the mainland. Miami-Dade's the stuff around the city. Miami Beach, well…you get the idea. We literally floated into Miami on a raft when the tides rolled in. Just me, my brother, and our dad. We lost a lotta officers during the floods, even more when Zorndyke's creatures attacked us. Just Cyrus and a few others were left by the time the war was over."

"Sorry to hear that." said Kino. "Wait…what about your mom? You didn't say what happened to her."

"No clue." said Trey. "She left my daddy when I was just a kid, and went back to Kingston. Haven't heard from her since the floods. What about your family?"

"I had my mom, dad, and an older sister." said Kino, frowning. "Zorndyke took them from me. And pretty much all my childhood friends…"

Her eyes started watering. Trey placed a hand on her shoulder, and smiled to comfort her.

Just then, the song was abruptly interrupted by a dramatic-sounding music cue.

"Crap, it's the news." said Riggs.

"Breaking news!" said a voice on the radio. "About four hours ago, a peaceful protest by residents of the slums of Albany, New York erupted into a mass riot. Although the unrest was quickly halted by the police, approximately $40,000,000 in damage, sixty-four deaths, and over three hundred injuries have already been confirmed by city officials, making this the fifth most destructive event to occur in America's history since the global flood. The president has promised to hold a press conference in response to this travesty. In other news, a border dispute is taking place between the countries of Norway and Sweden, following the dissolution of the Scandinavian Alliance. United Nations diplomats have been assigned to..."

"Ugh." said Walsh. "This whole planet's gone to Hell."

"'Fifth most destructive'?" asked Pete. "Wonder what they'd say if they knew about what happened in Miami."

"They're not going to give a damn what happens in Miami." said Jackson. "As far as the American public is concerned, everyone in Florida died in the flood. During the war, all everyone cared about was Zorndyke. After the war, all their woes have been with them on the mainland. You and your friends are a bunch of ghosts to them. And of course, most people think ghosts are a myth."

"Well, I don't think those people are a myth." said Kino. "I've seen them in Miami. I've seen them in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Brisbane, Honolulu, and many other places. They're just as real as those people living on the mainland. It's disgusting how the world governments can just turn their backs on their own people. Blue Fleet can't be left out here to protect everyone. And you know what else...wait, did you say people _think_ ghosts are a myth?"

"Yep."

"So, what are you saying...?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

As the discussion continued, Mutio finished her meal and looked at all of the different food that was given to the group, and what was still on the table. She wanted to try one of these strange delicacies, but she was hesitant.

"Wanna try some chicken?" asked Cyrus, offering a drumstick.

"How about a nacho?" asked Campbell, reaching over the table with a cheese-covered tortilla chip in his hand.

"How about some ribs?" asked Matt.

Riggs also offered a slice of the pan pizza that he and Jackson were sharing.

Mutio looked at all the food that was offered to her. It seemed almost alien to her to have so many humans offer her food at once, much less hot meals that were fried or cooked. She leaned forward and bit into Campbell's tortilla chip. She chewed it for a couple of seconds and started to swallow. Suddenly, she started gagging and choking.

"Hang on." said Cyrus, patting her on the back. "Just spit it out."

Mutio grabbed her throat and started hacking harder and harder. Instinctively, Hayami stood up, and was about to rush over when Cyrus stood up, grabbed Mutio by the waist, turned her away from the table, and squeezed on her chest. She retched up a thick string of nacho cheese on the floor.

Hayami ran up to them, and crouched in front of Mutio.

"Mutio, are you okay?" he asked.

"She's fine, Tetsu." said Cyrus. "She just swallowed the nacho a little too fast, and didn't chew it enough. It happens all the time."

"Yeah, even I do it sometimes!" said Campbell. "Though I probably should've given her a nacho with less cheese on it."

"Yeah! No kidding!" said Hayami. "How about making sure she's even able to eat that kind of food, too, before offering it to her?!"

"Tetsu, what's your problem?" asked Cyrus.

"Nothing." said Hayami. "I'm fine."

He walked outside, taking out a lighter and a cigarette from his pants pocket.

"What a mood-killer." said Campbell.

Kino got up to try and stop Hayami, but Mutio started to crawl after him. She grabbed his hand.

"Hayami." she said. "Stop."

Everyone in the room paused to look at her, including Hayami.

"D-don't...don't...go." she strained herself to speak.

Hayami knelt down so that their eyes were level with each other. He nodded, and stared.

He stood against the wall, Mutio following him and still looking at him. He sighed, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Kino went up to the two of them.

"Look, Hayami." said Kino. "Why don't we talk about this later? For now, let's just enjoy our meals. Okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

The King Stallion was almost ready to go. Cyrus and Hayami were talking to each other outside, the latter showing off his sidearm.

"Buckmark, huh?" asked Cyrus. "You killed Zorndyke with a Buckmark?"

"What, you're gonna talk crap about my gun too?" asked Hayami.

"No, of course not." said Cyrus. "I like your taste in guns. I love Brownings myself, if you couldn't tell."

He took out his Hi-Power, then twirled it in his hand. Then he placed in back in the holster. He noticed the other gun that Hayami had on his belt.

"Is that a TEC-22?" asked Cyrus.

"Yeah." said Hayami. "What about it?"

"Nothing, it's just...hey, is that full-auto?"

"Yep." said Hayami. "And I've been using it for years."

"When I was a cop, I arrested lots of people that would illegally modify their guns to fire full-auto." said Cyrus. "But ever since the flooding, I've been trying to make sure everyone has access to an automatic weapon...unless they prefer semi-auto, that is."

He sighed.

"So what was it like? Killing Zorndyke?"

"It felt...weird." said Hayami. "You know, he was the first person I ever killed up-close, and in broad daylight."

"I know how that feels. The first person I ever killed was during this...domestic dispute. Some low-life got drunk and started beating his wife and two kids for the eighth time in a single month. I was called over to arrest him, but he didn't want to come quietly. He went ballistic before I could cuff him. I had no choice but to put a bullet in his brain. I left those kids fatherless, and that woman a widow. I was scared to have to shoot him knowing this, but I also knew that I did what had to be done, even though it meant getting suspended from the force. I never wanted anyone to get hurt, but the man was beyond reasoning. It was only a matter of time before it happened again, even if he _was_ sent to jail."

"Sounds like what happened with my own family." said Hayami. "They didn't seem to care about me. My dad was an asshole, and my mom didn't give a damn either way. Cyrus, was it worth killing that man?"

"Hell yes." whispered Cyrus. "But you need to know when the right time is to kill, and when you should just..."

"...let them go." he and Hayami both said at the same time.

"So how did you meet Mutio?" asked Cyrus. "During the war?"

"Saved her after she tried to kill me. How did _you_ meet her?"

"She saved _me_. Would've been gobbled up by sharks if it weren't for her."

Hayami's eyes widened.

"What?" he muttered. "She actually saved another human being?"

"Huh?"

Hayami cleared his throat.

"Why did she save you, Cyrus?"

Cyrus looked into his brown eyes. He could tell that something was on his mind.

"I...I don't know." said Cyrus. "It's complicated. When we found her Musuca, we..."

"Cyrus?" asked a voice. "Ha...yami?"

Mutio was now right beside them, with Campbell bringing up the rear.

"Hey, guys." said Campbell. "I came to check on the helicopter. And Mutio wanted to see you two again."

"Hey, how are ya?" Cyrus bent over to talk to Mutio.

As he did so, Hayami smoked his cigarette as he stood in the back, looking out at the rest of the base.

"You're a smoker, eh?" asked Campbell.

"Yeah." said Hayami. "What about it?"

"Nothing." said Campbell. "It's just…well, I'm a smoker, too. Except I prefer cigars to cigarettes."

"Good for you." said Hayami.

"I actually have one in my pocket here, but I don't have a lighter." said Campbell. "I think I dropped it back in Miami. Care to help…please?"

"Sure." said Hayami, taking his lighter out of his pocket and flicking it on.

Campbell took a metal case out of his pocket, pulled out the cigar within, and held it up to Hayami's lighter. Then he stuck it in his mouth, and breathed in its fumes.

"Oh my god, that's so good." he shuddered with delight. "Thanks, Tetsu."

"Uh-huh."

"So…what kind of cigarette is that?" asked Campbell.

"Riverwood." said Hayami.

"Mine's a Crimson Crown," said Campbell. "Well, it's time to check the chopper."

Campbell went into the helicopter. Hayami looked at Mutio and Cyrus. He was teaching her how to do play rock-paper-scissors. He and Mutio were holding their left hand up in fists, sitting in the other hand's palm.

"One...two...three." said Cyrus, as he and Mutio hammered their fists into their palms.

Mutio held her hand up, still in a fist. Cyrus had his hand flat.

"Paper covers rock." smiled Cyrus. "Sorry...you lost."

He chuckled, and Mutio did the same. Cyrus patted her on the shoulder gently. Hayami was dumbfounded.

"This is amazing." thought Hayami. "So humans and Chimerans _can_ get along...good. But what's going on with those two? What does Mutio see in this guy? What does he see in her?"

His heart started beating faster as he looked at Mutio. He inspected their body language even further.

"Wait...they don't seem to be in love." he thought some more. "They seem to be..."

Now that Mutio was done with Cyrus, her focus was on Hayami. His heart-rate was back to normal, and he took a deep breath.

"You excited, Mutio?" asked Hayami. "Looks like we're all on the same side now."

Mutio nodded happily.

"Let's hope for the best, for both our sakes."

The rest of the team was now approaching the helicopter.

"So do any of you have any questions?" Kino asked the others.

"Yeah." said Pete. "Tell me again just why the hell we should go with you guys to Canada? What's stopping us from taking our helicopter back to Miami? We're just simple Floridians, not the frigging Green Berets."

"I'd hate to break it to you, but General Wells told me that Miami's still being evacuated." said Kino. "Between Zorndyke's flooding and the battle with the Riptides, it's borderline uninhabitable, and anyone else that lived there has either left or died. I even heard that lots of sharks are starting to swim into the ruins from all the bloodshed."

"Aw, that's bullcrap…" growled Pete.

"Miami's my home." said Cyrus, joining in. "But even I admit that going back to it right now is pointless. The only reason why most people even bothered to stay there was to avoid all the trouble on the mainland and in the Caribbean. Not to mention the Riptides didn't give us much room to expand. Maybe with them out of the picture, more people will be able to leave it for greener pastures...or should I say...bluer waters."

"I agree with Cyrus." said Rockefeller. "Miami brings back too many bad memories. Florida's all underwater, so there's no sense in waiting for the tide to take the rest of us."

"And having a stable place to live in would be pretty awesome." snarked Luke. "If we go with ya, d'ya think Blue Fleet could get us someplace nice to live? Maybe, like, an island or something?"

"We'll see what we can do." said Kino. "Until then, you've all been deputized into Blue Fleet. Welcome aboard."

"Yippee..." said Pete, dryly.


	12. The Journey to Nova Scotia

Jackson and Riggs watched the group board the helicopter. Jackson had his facial scars treated, but he still had to wear a cast on his arm for the rest of the week.

"I'm gonna miss those guys." said Riggs. "Those people were an... _interesting_ group to travel with."

"So after all the pain and suffering we had to deal with and losing Tori," said Jackson. "we're just going to let them go?"

"That's right, Bobby." said Riggs. "General's orders. Besides, we already have everything we need from Katsuma and Mutio."

"And what about the others?" asked Jackson. "Did we get anything out of them?"

"They're civilians, Bobby." said Riggs. "They don't know any more than we do."

"That's what I figured." said Jackson. "So, I guess we better check out those Riptides."

"Riptides?" repeated Riggs.

"The SEALs brought some of them back here when they brought me, Hayami, and Kino back from Florida. Their leader was using an experimental exosuit, made by our military."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah. He made an ass of himself with it." said Jackson. "I'm starting to think that the exosuit might be connected with this airship that everyone's talking about."

"So you think the Riptides might be the ones attacking the Musucas?"

"Hell no. I'm saying the Riptides might be doing someone else's work. I remember Legoria telling us that the Riptides went straight for the Musuca in Florida, and they were deliberately killing survivors. And then the Riptides attacked Miami the day after, when Legoria brought Mutio back to his city. Whoever controls that airship obviously wanted to make sure their job was finished. But they were clearly in a hurry, so they settled for local help. And they sure as hell got it."

"Whoa..." said Riggs. "Yeah, we definitely need to get down to those holding cells, and get answers from those Riptides. Let's go."

* * *

The group departed from Mount Weather, with all the equipment they had on them since they arrived. Since Walsh and Riggs weren't joining them, they gave the extra uniforms from the _Coolidge_ to Kino and Hayami, who then rejected them as they already had their own uniforms. So they decided to keep them stored in case they picked up more recruits on the way.

They had the Grampus attached to the bottom of the King Stallion, and were instructed to fly to the destroyer _USS Thunderball_ , which would bring them halfway to Nova Scotia.

As they flew away from the mainland and over the Atlantic, Katsuma started shuddering. The gills on his torso started opening and closing uneasily. After a moment, they stopped.

"Katsuma, what's wrong?" asked Luke.

"I don't know." said Katsuma, putting a hand on his chest. "I…I hope we land soon. I think I need water."

"I wonder why that is?" inquired Kino. "Mutio doesn't seem to need water."

"I think now would be a good time to get the Grampus back into the ocean." said Hayami. "Katsuma, Mutio. Maybe you'd like a swim, too?"

"Sounds good." Katsuma nodded with a grin.

"Taking her down." said Rockefeller.

The helicopter dropped in altitude so that they could unhook the Grampus, and let its two pilots get inside. The submersible descended. Katsuma removed his tank top, then leaped from the helicopter's ramp and into the water to join them. Mutio followed immediately after. They swam alongside the Grampus, flanking it like guardians as it sped through the depths of the sea.

Hayami, who sat in the pilot's seat, looked out into the ocean. There were large schools of fish, along with octopi and sea turtles all around them, in that endless blue undersea realm. Katsuma and Mutio were silhouetted against the blue, although the latter was distinguishable by her glowing red eyes. She swam closer and closer to Hayami's cockpit, and peered through the glass just to smile at him. Hayami looked back at her as the fins in her arms and legs were unfolding and expanding fluidly. Katsuma was doing the same on the other side of him.

Katsuma watched Hayami and Mutio as they stared at each other, a sense of loneliness tugging at his heartstrings. Then he bowed his head down and looked at the fish swimming below him.

* * *

"Cyrus, it looks like I'm short of a sidearm." said Campbell. "Walsh made me give his Beretta back to him right before we left."

Cyrus went over to the boxes of equipment they took from the _Calvin Coolidge_ ; they were fortunate that Walsh had let them get the weapons and other supplies back after Mount Weather's security confiscated it. He produced a Glock 19 and magazine, and gave both to Campbell.

"There you go." said Cyrus. "Anything else on your mind, Rick?"

"Yeah." said Campbell, loading the magazine into the gun. "I can't believe I'm finally going back home. It's been so long."

Cyrus nodded. He knew that Campbell was from Canada. He was a tourist, visiting from Montreal when the floods rolled in. He was unable to get home for all that time. It was fortunate for the Floridians that Campbell knew a few things about using rifles, especially ones that were scoped. He helped protect Miami from so many threats during his time there. Now this was a chance for him to come back home, and walk away from all of this. If there was still a home to come back to, that is.

"I wonder how my mom's doing." said Campbell. "I hope she's okay. Will she even recognize me?"

"Oh, of course she will." smiled Cyrus. "Don't talk crazy, Rick."

Campbell loaded a magazine into the pistol, pulled back the slide, and then let go. Then he switched the safety on and holstered it.

"It's just...well, I was remembering what Dr. Cameron said to me."

"What did he say?" asked Cyrus.

"He told me how he worked at a Blue Fleet base in British Columbia." said Campbell. "He said that it was raided by Zorndyke's forces, and he was one of the few survivors. I'm worried that what happened to his town might have happened to mine."

"Montreal's practically on the other side of the country from British Columbia." said Cyrus. "Just have some faith."

At that moment, Rockefeller had turned around.

"Guys, we're here!"

Five minutes later, the helicopter landed on the destroyer, and the Grampus was being raised out of the sea on a crane. The group disembarked from their vehicles, and were greeted by the ship's crew. Their commanding officer, a short, middle-aged woman with brown hair tied in a bun, stepped forwards.

"So you're the group from Blue Fleet that Mount Weather told us about?" asked the captain. "Welcome aboard, I'm Captain Regina Burrows. And I see you brought some…company with you."

She looked suspiciously at Mutio and Katsuma.

"Don't worry about them, ma'am." said Kino. "They're all with us."

"I've already contacted the Royal Canadian Navy." said Captain Burrows. "They're sending the _HMCS Aronnax_. They'll pick you up as soon as we're in Canadian territory, and then they'll take you to Nova Scotia. In the meantime, please make yourselves comfortable. And try not to make a mess."

The last sentence was directed at Katsuma and Mutio. As the group left, Burrows stopped Mutio, waving a Ruger Redhawk in her face.

"Now listen, and listen good." she growled at her. "Stay out of trouble, or there will _be_ trouble. I've dealt with your kind before, especially you mermaid-things. One of your sisters screamed into my ear during the Battle of Boston, and it's been ringing to this day. You're nasty little bitches, but I'm nastier."

"And bitchier, by the sound of things." said a voice behind Burrows.

It was Hayami, with Rockefeller behind him.

"We got a problem here, ma'am?" Hayami asked.

"Nothing." said Burrows, turning around. "Nothing's wrong. Now get away from me before I have you all thrown in the brig."

Mutio and Rockefeller both nodded, and Burrows lowered the revolver. Mutio hurried after the others, frantically trying to get away from the captain.

"Mutio, what's the matter?" asked Campbell.

Mutio made no response, but she eyed Captain Burrows nervously.

"The captain was threatening Mutio and talking smack to her." said Rockefeller, who caught up to the others.

"Was she?" asked Campbell. "Well, I'm gonna have a talk with her about this."

Cyrus stopped him.

"No." he said. "She's not worth the trouble. We'll be off this ship before you know it. Mutio, why don't you stay with us? Try not to talk to any of these people."

* * *

After a couple days passed, they were finally leaving American waters, and were nearing Canada. Right on cue, another warship was nearing them. It had the Maple Leaf flag at the bow.

"Wow, I thought I'd never get to see the Canadian flag again." said Campbell, who had a wide smile on his face. "I _am_ finally coming home."

They departed from the _Thunderball_ , and boarded the _Aronnax_. Mutio was especially glad to be away from Captain Burrows, who had been leering at her during the whole trip. But at least she was comfortable knowing that Cyrus and the others would be able to stop her if she did try harming her.

When they came aboard the _Aronnax_ , the group were all given warmer clothes to wear. This was quite fortunate, since it was early March, and Canada was suffering one of the coldest, longest winters it had faced in decades. Not that it bothered Mutio, since she was used to the ice-cold temperatures of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. But most of the others, who were mostly accustomed to the warm tropical regions of Miami, were coughing, shivering, and sneezing on and off during the entire trip.

Of the group from Miami, only Cyrus and Campbell didn't seem to mind the cold. While the others were warming up in their designated quarters, they met with the captain to discuss the Musuca with Hayami, Katsuma, and Kino.

"So what's the story with the Musuca?" asked Cyrus.

"Our patrols found the Musuca stuck in the shoals near Devils Island. Twenty-six passengers confirmed dead, the rest missing. Based on reports from the war, we believe that there should still be eight-to-twelve out there somewhere."

"Devils Island, huh?" asked Hayami. "Nice name."

"Were there any survivors?" asked Kino.

"And what about Kumos?" added Katsuma.

"Well, it's unconfirmed…" said the captain. "But we received reports from locals about Chimerans traveling inland. But like I said, it hasn't been confirmed by government officials. As for the...what do you call 'em...'Kumos'? Well, we found seven of them near the Musuca. All of them were damaged beyond repair, and their pilots slain or missing."

"A Musuca typically has about a dozen Kumos." said Katsuma. "The rest can't be too far away."

"Anything you can tell us about the area?" asked Cyrus.

"Well, it's located near Halifax Harbor." said the captain. "But of course, Halifax itself was wiped out years ago by the Army of Chiron."

"The what?" asked Campbell.

"It's what they call Zorndyke's navy." said Kino.

"The city was destroyed, and everyone there either died or evacuated inland." said the captain. "But there are still refugees coming up there from the United States. There's a whole town of them on Devils Island. Nogadsville, I think it's called."

"Nogadsville?" repeated Campbell. "Weird, I never heard of that."

"That's because it was founded by refugees that came up from Maine after the floods. A couple hundred people, from what I heard, that prefer to keep to themselves. They're not what I'd call hostile. They'll let ya stay for a while, but you'd better not stay long."

"Why's that?" asked Campbell.

"There's something that ain't right about them." said the captain. "I had a brother that stayed there a while back, I think three months ago. Came back telling me how the people have this weird look to them. Probably some disease that got kicked up from under the ocean during the floods, or from the war."

"Can't be any worse than the Riptides." said Cyrus. "Anything else we need to know?"

"Well, a number of trenches and caves have opened up in that area since the flooding began. Probably from the bombardment caused by Zorndyke's forces. It is possible that some Chimerans might be hiding in those caves. We've already had our Marines check out most of them, but there's even more of them on the surface that need to be explored. And of course, since our Marine Corps. is pretty new and isn't what you'd call 'experienced' with amphibious operations, they'll need some proper supervision from people who _are_ experienced in that kind of field."

"Maybe Mutio or Katsuma could help us there." said Hayami.

"We should split up the team." said Cyrus. "Some of us should check out the town, while the others search for the Kumos underwater."


	13. Nova Scotia

Armando and two of his men were taken to an interrogation cell in Mount Weather's lower levels. They were all blindfolded, and being guarded by several soldiers. Armando's accomplices were gagged, but Armando himself had his removed so that he could speak.

"Once more..." said Jackson. "Why did you and your men attack Miami?"

"Because those _idiotas_ were asking for it." said Armando. "They should have left that _lío_ of a city when they had the chance."

"There's more to it than that." said Walsh. "You Riptides are mercenaries, not psychopaths. And you must have known that the people of Miami are well-armed. What sense would there be in sending all of your forces into such an area?"

"Why should we tell you?" asked Armando.

Jackson grabbed Armando by the collar, and pointed his P226 at his head.

"Your men killed one of my squadmates a few days ago." he growled. "Don't think I won't try avenging him."

"Do whatever you want to me." said Armando. "I won't tell you _nada_!"

Jackson pistol-whipped Armando across the face, and then pointed the gun at one of the other Riptides. He pulled the trigger.

 _BANG!_

 _"Pendejo_!" yelled Armando.

"Yeah, I shot your buddy!" said Jackson. "Are you pissed?"

"I'll kill you! _Bastardo militar_!"

"Then it looks like I'm pushing the right buttons." said Jackson. "Tell me what you were all doing in Miami, or I'll blow the other guy's brains out."

" _Arder en el infierno_!"

"Okay..."

Jackson pointed the pistol at the other Riptide, and cocked it.

"Wait! Wait!" protested Armando. "It was the Masters! They told us to do it!"

Jackson lowered the gun.

"Told you to do...what?"

"The _monstruos_. We were told to kill the ones from the whale! That mermaid bitch was the only one that made it out. We were searching Miami for her, but she got away."

"Yeah, thanks to my group." said Walsh.

"Who are the Masters?" Jackson demanded.

"They're the _nuevos jugadores_...new players in town." said Armando. "They won't take anything from you _muchachos_. Not you, not Blue Fleet, not those ugly fish-freaks. When the Masters find out we failed, they will come here and kill you all!"

After that, he began laughing maniacally. Jackson took out a baton, and repeatedly whacked Armando on the head until he was out cold. Then he looked the first Riptide (the one he pretended to shoot), approached him, and ripped the gag off of the man's mouth.

"You better know more..."

* * *

The group split up. Pete and Alex were walking along a rocky isle, trying to find the Chimerans.

"This is just beautiful." said Pete. "Jesus Christ. I feel like some stupid asshole, just wandering around like this."

" _Deja de lloriquear, idiota._ " muttered Alex.

"Damn it, Alex." said Pete. "Will you speak English, already? I know you can, so why don't you-"

Then he paused, raised his Beretta 92FS, and looked up. There was a loud honking above him, and a Canada Goose divebombed over his shoulder, knocking the gun out of his hand.

"Oh, come on!" said Pete.

The goose landed just a couple feet in front of him, standing on top of the pistol. Pete rolled his eyes.

"The hell with this..."

He approached the goose, which started hissing angrily at him. He reached for the Beretta, and the goose spread its wings. Alex pulled Pete back.

" _E _l_ ganso va a morderte_."

"If you're saying it's gonna bite me, then no kidding." said Pete. "I ain't got time for this. We got a mission. And no stupid Canadian bird is gonna-"

The goose stepped towards him, still hissing. Pete sidestepped in the opposite direction, but the goose kept following him.

"Will you go screw around with someone else?!" yelled Pete.

The goose wouldn't obey.

"No. Go away. Get...your ass...away!"

The goose stopped, and turned around.

"Thank God."

At that moment, a vaguely humanoid shape rose out of the water, and lunged for Pete. The creature was abnormally tall, nearly eight-and-a-half feet, counting the long cone-shaped head. It had a lean physique, and large spikes on each of its broad shoulders. Its jet-black skin was leathery and glistened in the light. Instead of a face, it just had a large white eye with a wide, slitted black pupil, and what appeared to be a beard of short tendrils underneath the eye.

The squid-headed creature had a trident of some sort in its claws, and it struck Pete across the face with the handle. It then jumped, simultaneously kicking both Pete and Alex off their feet. Then it pointed the trident threateningly at Pete.

"What the hell is going on?!" said a voice.

The creature blinked its giant eye at him, planted one of its flipper-like feet on Pete's chest, and then spun the trident in its claw. It turned to face the direction of the speaker. It was Katsuma, and he was accompanied by Mutio. Katsuma was carrying a speargun, and had it pointed at the strange man-beast.

"Katsuma, where the hell have you been?" asked Pete.

Mutio approached Pete and Alex's attacker, and hissed cautiously.

"Mutio, think you could tell your friend here to piss off?"

Mutio ignored him, and scrutinized the newcomer. She started making gasps and yowls, but to no response. Alex muttered something as he stood back up.

"So what's taking so long?" asked Pete.

"Mutio doesn't recognize this thing." said Katsuma.

"Oh, really?" asked Pete. "Maybe it's a distant cousin of hers. I doubt Zorndyke held family reunions all the time..."

The creature reached down, and grabbed Pete's neck. Then it forced him to stand upright, let him go, and stabbed the trident into the ground with its other claw. Its focus was now on Mutio and Katsuma.

Mutio made some chirps and hissing noises. The creature approached her, blinking its eye again. It stopped just a few steps in front of her. Mutio continued.

"What's she saying to this guy?" asked Pete.

"Basically, she wants him to help us find the other survivors." said Katsuma.

The creature turned around, pulled the trident out of the ground, and walked along the shore. Mutio followed him, cautiously.

"Guess we better go, too." said Katsuma.

" _Si_." said Alex.

* * *

Cyrus, Trey, and Campbell departed from the ship, accompanied by Lt. Louis Delacroix of the Royal Canadian Marines. They all wore warm clothing due to the extremely cold weather.

As they continued down the path, they finally arrived at the ramshackle settlement of Nogadsville. Wanting to keep a low profile, they kept their sidearms holstered and concealed; Cyrus with his Browning Hi-Power, Campbell and Trey their Glocks, and Delacroix his Inglis Hi-Power.

They came into the town, which mostly consisted of log cabins and metal shacks. Some houses were built from marooned boats, others from destroyed aircraft. There were a handful of people gathered in the outskirts of the town, warming themselves up next to a flaming garbage pail. When Cyrus' group approached them, they all turned and stared at them inquisitively. It wasn't until they were up close did they realize how unkempt these people were. Though they didn't seem nearly as malformed as the captain made them out to be.

Not wanting to talk to these people, they strolled by without a word. They came to a large building in the middle of the town, which they assumed to be the town hall. They knocked on the door, which slowly opened. A wild-eyed old man came to meet them. He had a long graying beard and a balding scalp, wore ragged clothes, and walked with a knobby cane. He was holding a snubnosed Colt Python, trained on Cyrus, in his other hand.

"What the hell do you people want?" he asked them, with a gruff voice.

The old man had a New England accent, which at least confirmed that this man indeed came from Maine, or at least one of the neighboring states.

"We're looking for the mayor, or whoever's in charge here." said Cyrus.

"Then lucky for you, you've found the right person." said the old man. "I'm Phillip Knox. I'm the man in charge of this miserable hell-hole of a town. Come in."

The four followed him into the building. He led them into a room with a large fireplace, and several cozy chairs around it. Campbell looked around at the furniture. There were stuffed moose and bear heads lined up on the walls, along with paintings of landscapes and wildlife.

"So who are you people, anyway?" asked Phillip. "Why would you come here of all places?"

"My name is Cyrus Legoria." said Cyrus. "And we're refugees from down South. Trying to find a safer place to live, away from the people inland."

"I assume all of you want a place to stay, right?" he asked. "I can't imagine why the hell else you'd be here."

"Sure, why not?" asked Campbell.

"Well, there's a motel-whatever passes as a motel in a place like this-on the far side of town, by the old lighthouse. It's called the Buccaneer's Bar. Just tell them I sent ya.".

"Thanks." said Cyrus. "C'mon, guys. Let's go."

* * *

Matt looked out from his room on the ship, wondering about the land to the West. He had never been outside of the United States before. The land he could see wasn't much, but it must have been beautiful before the flooding began. He wondered if the Chimerans would've thought the same. It didn't make sense to him why Zorndyke would want to flood the Earth so badly. They were living in the 2050s, and most of the world's oceans were still unexplored. And most of the world was already covered in water. This meant there would be plenty of places for his sea-creatures to hide from humans. If they even needed to hide from humans at all. What happened that could make Zorndyke think humans were impossible to just ignore? During his time in Florida, he heard these arguments all the time. Were humans to blame for Zorndyke's actions, or was Zorndyke completely to blame for everything?

Suddenly, he heard voices, and looked at the shore. Three marines were hurrying frantically back to the _Aronnax_ , the lead carrying an unconscious Chimeran on her back.

"Medic! Medic!" shouted one of the marines.

"We've got a survivor!" said another. "Take it to the infirmary immediately."

Several men came down to meet them, one of them taking the Chimeran from the trio. They rushed it onto the vessel. Matt followed them.

When they got to the infirmary, they set the Chimeran down. It was a cat-girl, seemingly in her early-to-mid teens. She was very thin, almost like Mutio, and had brown-and-white fur. She was wearing a tattered grayish-green shirt and skirt, but no shoes or socks. She wore a large woolly band on her head, and had brown hair that was tied back in a wide plait, with a series of braided locks around her ears. These locks reminded Matt of the ones his mother had, before she left his father.

"Alright, keep 'er steady." said the doctor. "Let's see the damage."

He put on a stethoscope, and placed it against her heart.

"Pulse is somewhat low, but nothing too serious." he said. "We'll need to do a scan to check her vitals."

"She gonna be okay?" asked Matt.

"Sorry, son." said one of the marines. "You need to get back to your quarters. This is a dangerous creature."

"I ain't a little kid." argued Matt. "I can handle myself, I'm with Blue Fleet, and she don't look all that dangerous to me. I can help ya."

"Fine, you can stay here." said the doctor. "Just don't get in the way."

"Thank ya." said Matt.


	14. Devils Isle

The cat-girl opened her brown eyes. She was laying on a bed, in a strange room with an abundance of medical equipment around her. She could also hear the sound of the ocean outside; she was aboard a human ship.

At that moment, she heard footsteps. Turning her head, she looked and saw a teenaged boy with dark skin and hair pacing in circles. She eyed him curiously in silence. After she stared at him for twenty seconds, the boy noticed that she was conscious.

"Hey, you're up!"

Gasping in surprise, the cat-girl squirmed on her bed. She backed up against the wall with her hand up, in case the boy tried approaching her with the intention of harming her.

"Hi there." he said to her, waving his hand. "My name's Matt."

The cat-girl briefly froze when he spoke to her.

"Hello..." she replied back, softly.

She sat up. It was difficult though, since she was still aching.

"Did you bring me here?" she asked.

"Nah. Them marine guys did." said Matt. "The doc told me to watch ya while he was takin' a leak."

The cat-girl nodded.

"Want me to get you some water or something?" Matt asked her.

The cat-girl said nothing. She looked around, and noticed the far end of the room had a small stack of books. She eyed a hardcover book that was all alone.

"A book…" she muttered, before speaking up. "Could you get that for me, please?"

She pointed at the book, and Matt brought it over to her.

"Ya read books, huh?" asked Matt.

"Mm-hmm." said the cat-girl. "Papa taught me how to read and write. He always loved poetry and classic literature."

She read the book's title aloud: _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_. However, she pronounced Jekyll's name as "Jee-kuhl".

"I think you said it wrong." said Matt. "It's supposed to be 'Jeck-ull'".

"No, that's how it's meant to be pronounced." said the cat-girl. "The author of the book meant for the name to be said that way."

"Huh. Really?" said Matt. "Guess all those movies and cartoons were the ones that messed up. Like how everybody says Frankenstein's the monster and not the guy that made him."

"It seems so." said the cat-girl, nodding her head.

"Never really read Frankenstein, though." said Matt. "Just watched one of the movies. Gave me nightmares for a week. So…what's your name, anyway?"

"Amonyushuu." said the cat-girl.

"'Amonyushuu'? What kind of a name is that?"

"It's a mondegreen."

"A mondegreen?" Matt asked, tilting his head in confusion.

She nodded.

"What the hell is that?"

"A mondegreen is a corruption of a word or phrase based on misinterpretation, usually occurring when the word in question sounds similar to another word. The origin of the term comes from..."

"Okay, okay. And how is your name a...monde-whatever?"

"When I was little, papa read me a poem called the Manyoshu. The very first words I ever said was my attempt to say the name aloud. Papa liked how I said it so much, that he decided to make it my name."

"Really..." said Matt, nodding his head awkwardly. "Cool story."

The door opened, and the doctor came inside.

"Well, it looks like our patient's woken up." he said.

"Yep. She sure is." said Matt. "Guess you wanna talk to her?"

"Of course. Excuse me, please."

Matt stood aside, and talked to Amonyushuu.

"How are you feeling?" asked the doctor.

"I feel fine. My legs feel very sore, though."

"Can you tell us what happened to the Musuca?"

"We were attacked." said Amonyushuu. "Some kind of flying machine…"

Matt nodded.

"It dropped something in the water." Amonyushuu continued, solemnly. "There was this horrible scream. Even when we were underwater, we could all hear it. We could feel it, too; it shook the Musuca. Some of the Kumos were launched to find the source of the scream, but they were attacked and destroyed. The Musuca was hit next."

"What hit the Musuca, though?"

"I don't know. There was a shockwave. It tore holes in the Musuca's body, and several of my people were killed. The rest escaped, but I don't know where they are now."

"Very interesting." said the doctor. "I think we better tell the captain about this."

* * *

Cyrus, Campbell, Trey, and Lt. Delacroix came to the Buccaneer's Bar. It was a rundown place, with only one man at the bar. The landlord was placing a bottle of beer on the wall when he noticed the newcomers entering through the front door.

"And who the hell are you people?" he asked.

"Refugees from down South." said Trey.

"We don't want trouble." said Cyrus. "Mr. Knox said we could get rooms here."

"Are you infected with any diseases?" demanded the landlord, clutching what was undoubtedly a handgun on his belt.

"No." said Cyrus. "We promise that we're not."

"Thank the lord." said the landlord. "We've had enough death around here."

"Death?" asked Campbell.

"A couple months ago, there were some…disagreements among the townspeople. Lots of folks were killed or driven out, mostly the sick ones. Now there's only about fifty or sixty of us left. And you better not try making it any worse for us. We've had a hell of a year as it is."

"Oh my god…" said Campbell. "I'm really sorry to hear about that."

"We don't plan on doing that." said Cyrus.

"Did you see any of those sea-creatures around these parts?" asked Lt. Delacroix.

"Yeah." said the landlord. "One of them came by here, looking for trouble. Had to lock it in the basement."

"You didn't kill it, did you?" asked Cyrus.

"No, but I'm considering it." said the landlord. "It stinks up the whole place, and it never shuts the hell up."

"What kind of hybrid is it?" asked Cyrus.

"It's the big and tough-looking kind. Never seen any like it before."

"Can we see it?" Trey asked.

"I don't see why not."

They went outside, to a large cellar door in the back. There was a faint tumbling below.

"Hey, you in there!" the landlord said, knocking on the door. "You better behave, or I'll have to shoot you…again."

He slowly opened the door, his other hand pulling out the gun. As soon as the door was wide enough, he rushed down the stairs, cocking his pistol. Cyrus and the others soon followed. They found themselves gagging on the rancid stench. There was a faint scraping on the other side of the door, followed by incomprehensible rambling.

"Oh, great." said the landlord. "He's awake."

"Yes, the creature in the basement stirs." said a strange voice coming from behind the door. "It wants the man on the other side of that door to let it free. Let it go."

"Fine, I'll open the door." said the landlord. "But you better behave yourself."

"He must not shoot. It will only anger the occupant of the room."

The landlord opened the door, his gun out. He gestured for the others to follow him. A hulking Chimeran was on the other side. It had red-brown armored skin, a bulky torso, five crustacean legs (there was clearly a sixth at some point, but it had broken off), and two mismatched arms. The right arm had a large crab-like claw, while the left had five fingers, except that the middle one grew out of the palm while the other four were arrayed evenly around it. There were also a few tendrils extending from the back of its body.

"So the human that lives upstairs has brought more of his kind." said the creature. "He must explain who they are."

"Just some people from down South, that wanted to check you out.

"Why the hell's he talking like that?" asked Campbell.

"Yeah, he likes to do that for some reason." said the landlord. "Ever heard of people speaking in third-person? He speaks in _nineteenth_ -person. At least, that's what I call it. He acts as though he were some...random guy in a distant location. It's really bizarre."

"The human that is currently speaking needs to shut up, and the one known as Franchesco must leave." said the crab-man.

"Excuse me." said Cyrus to the landlord. "Is it okay if we talk to him in private?"

"Go ahead." said the landlord. "Just don't blame me if he goes nuts on you."

He walked out of the basement, and closed the door.

"Franchesco, we need to know." said Cyrus. "Were you aboard the Musuca that was attacked recently?"

"The Musuca was attacked, and the creature who is known as Franchesco was aboard it." said Franchesco. "An airship that is unknown to all aboard came down upon it, and let loose its arsenal. Why does that human with the scar on his face want to know?"

"Because we came up here with the survivor of another Musuca attack down South. Do you know Mutio?"

"And please answer like a normal living being." said Delacroix.

"That name might be familiar, yes." said Franchesco. "Mutio's Musuca perhaps tried to follow the one that was destroyed here, but was separated when the airship attacked down South. Were the others aboard her Musuca killed?"

"Sorry, but they were." said Cyrus. "The Riptides made sure of that."

"That is extremely unfortunate." said Franchesco. "They would have been helpful right now. Everyone that's still alive needs transportation away from these humans. The one outside is a very hostile host, and the airship may come back soon."

* * *

Mutio, Katsuma, Pete, and Alex followed the strange creature into a small cave on the shore. Pete took out a flashlight, and turned it on. He pointed it alongside his Beretta, illuminating the tunnel. The cave was long and extremely narrow, with small stalactites sticking down from the ceiling. Eventually, the long passage opened into a spacious room. A humanoid shape dropped down from the ceiling in front of them. It was identical to the creature the four were following, except that the weapon it was wielding appeared to be some sort of scythe/battleaxe hybrid. The first creature stood next to the second, and the two faced the group.

"Okay, so you've got a twin brother." said Pete. "Does _he_ talk?"

"Neither of them are able to speak." said a deep, gurgling voice. "But I am."

The two creatures stood aside for a third creature. It was a large turtle-like humanoid with the head of a barbeled dragonfish, the shell of an alligator snapping turtle, the arms and claws of a Komodo Dragon, and the legs and feet of an ape, albeit scaly and reptilian in appearance. It opened his mouth, revealing many long, needle-thin teeth, and let out a hiss.

"Humans! And..."

He was now looking directly at Katsuma.

"I know you." gurgled the creature. "You're the one that papa experimented on."

"And what about it?" asked Katsuma.

"Well, if you came for your revenge, then you picked an opportune time." said the creature. "Kill me. My guards won't stop you."

"I don't even know who you are." said Katsuma. "And we have bigger things on our mind."

"I am Paolo." said the creature. "I was the lieutenant of the Musuca crew, and also the highest-ranking survivor, after the unfortunate passing of our captain."

He turned and pointed towards the body of a dead Chimeran at the very back of the chamber. It was very large, with the head of a pufferfish, the hind legs of a toad, and the front legs of a sea-turtle. Its body was horribly scarred, even bleeding, in several areas. Mutio looked at the body, and frowned.

"How many of you are left?" asked Katsuma.

"There were five in our group." said Paolo. "Then when the captain died, it was four. I sent Franchesco to find the other survivors, but he never came back. I feared the humans got him."

Paolo noticed Mutio was in the group. He approached her, pointing a claw and narrowing his glowing white eyes. Alex and Pete raised their guns cautiously.

"You..." said Paolo. "I am not at all surprised to see _you_ among humans. Just imagine the look on Admiral Verg's face if he could see you now. Heh, heh, heh."

"Enough messing around." said Katsuma. "We need you to answer some questions."

"Ask, then leave us alone." said Paolo.

"Where were you trying to go?"

"We were following Admiral Verg on his mission."

"What mission?"

"To reclaim the Arctic. Create a second refuge for our kind there. One that humans would never be able to follow us to."

"But someone obviously had a problem with that." said Katsuma. "You were ambushed, and many other Musucas were attacked, too."

"But why?" asked Paolo. "We had no quarrel with the humans. We were colonists! Verg was right. It was a mistake to think humans would let us live in peace."

Mutio started hissing and making various noises.

"Maybe so, Mutio." said Paolo. "But those were still humans that attacked our..."

There was strange humming noise coming from above the ceiling.

"What the hell is that?" asked Pete.

"Damn." said Paolo. "It's them."

* * *

Hayami and Kino piloted the Grampus, speeding along the shore towards Halifax Harbor. They were accompanied by a half-dozen motorboats, each laden with frogmen that were armed with Colt Canada C7A1 assault rifles, spearguns, and Inglis Hi-Powers in waterproof holsters. Hayami was piloting, while Kino was monitoring the sonar.

"Got anything?" asked Hayami.

"Nothing yet." said Kino. "But we should be...wait."

There was a loud hum coming from the sonar. A massive shadow was passing over the Grampus and the boats. Hayami looked up at the sky, and felt his jaw drop.


	15. Separation

Aboard the _Aronnax_ , Rockefeller and Luke were standing by the helicopter, looking out to the land beyond.

"So how are you feeling?" asked Rockefeller.

"I'm fine." sighed Luke. "I kinda miss Miami, though. Sure, it was mostly underwater. But at least it was warm…kinda."

"Me, too." said Rockefeller. "I'm used to warm, too. I'm from Texas, which is as warm as you can get."

"Wow, dude. Texas?" asked Luke. "Really?"

"What, are you gonna talk bad about it, too?" asked Rockefeller.

"No, man." said Luke. "I'm just surprised is all. So how come you left?"

"Because my dad's a rich jackass. You might've heard of him. He's in the oil business."

"Wait, you mean Joseph Rockefeller?" said Luke. "That oil tycoon guy?"

"Yep, that's the one." said Rockefeller, nonchalantly. "He loved his oil more than he loved his own family. So I went to aviation school so I could fly away from that heartless prick."

At that moment, there was a loud humming. A black shadow had passed over Devils Isle.

"Oh, lord…" said Rockefeller, looking up at the sky. "Here we go."

A gigantic black airship was in the air over all of them. The engines' humming could be heard throughout the island. Several marines and sailors joined Rockefeller and Luke in watching the airship.

"Is…is that what I think it is?" asked the captain.

"Yep. That's it." said Luke. "That's what's been hitting the Musucas."

As it passed over Nogadsville, it dropped a large black object.

"Whatever that is, it can't be anything good." said Rockefeller. "Captain, you should call whoever you got out that way back here right now. I'm gonna find Cyrus and the others."

"I'll come, too." said Luke. "Where are they?"

"Holloway and Zerumtez went with the Chimerans along the shores." said the captain. "And I believe Legoria's group went with Lt. Delacroix to Nogadsville."

Rockefeller twisted his face with distress.

"Aw, hell no!" he exclaimed. "We've gotta get there now."

"Wait a sec…" said Luke. "What about Matt?"

"Go get him." said Rockefeller. "I've got to find the others."

"Got it. Good luck!"

Luke ran down to the infirmary, while Rockefeller prepped the helicopter, taking with him his Ruger assault rifle and Colt Trooper revolver. As he did so, the captain was shouting orders to his crew, and an alarm started to ring. They began moving turrets and other armaments into position, aiming at the airship.

In the infirmary, Matt and Amonyushuu were bewildered by the klaxon that blared. Instinctively, Matt covered his ears when it started, as he used to do during fire drills at his old school.

"What is that sound?" asked the cat-girl, as her eyes winced and ears twitched.

Luke rushed into the room.

"Matt, we need to get out of here! Rockefeller's picking up the others, and we're going with him."

"Wait, what about Amonwhatshername?"

"Amonyushuu!" the Chimeran corrected her name.

 _BOOM! BOOM!_

The ship's armaments were fired at the airship. Several dozen bullets hit them in response, eliminating a dozen of the ship's crewmen.

"Fine, we bring her, too." said Luke. "I don't think these guys will notice."

Luke carried Amonyushuu out of the infirmary, when he was stopped by the doctor at the door.

"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

"Take a wild guess!" said Luke. "Getting her out of here."

"Yeah!" said Matt. "Blue Fleet's orders!"

"Very well." said the doctor. "But I must go with her."

They all raced frantically to the King Stallion. They boarded it just as it took off.

* * *

Cyrus and his group ran out of the Buccaneer's Bar, and brandished their concealed firearms, just in time for the airship to drop an object from its underside right on top of the lighthouse. The decrepit building collapsed under the object's sheer weight, but there was fortunately nobody inside the structure at the time. Emerging from the rubble was a large, black figure with a mechanical body. It was very large (almost the size of a pickup truck) and bulky in shape, standing on four spider-like legs and with a rotund torso that had three generators on the back and a missile launcher in the front. Mounted on its left shoulder was a triple-barreled needlegun, and on the right was some kind of strange weapon.

The landlord ran outside with his handgun, and shot the mechanical intruder four times, but to no avail. The automaton aimed its needlegun at the landlord, and fired a barrage of flechettes into his body, killing him.

Cyrus and the others took cover behind the building, and switched the safeties off of their guns. As they did so, the automaton crashed through the wall. There was a gurgled shouting, followed by the needlegun discharging more projectiles.

"Damn!" said Trey. "Sounds like it got Franchesco."

"Rick. You and Trey need to get back to the ship, and tell them we need reinforcements." said Cyrus. "Delacroix and I will try and hold that thing off."

"Right." said Campbell. "Maybe the Mambi will pop that sucker."

The automaton knocked down the front door of the Buccaneer's Bar, and advanced towards the town.

"Better make it fast." said Delacroix.

They went their separate ways, with Cyrus and Delacroix going down to the cellar, where Franchesco lay with dozens of metal bolts stuck in its body.

"Are you okay?" asked Cyrus.

"He will be fine." moaned the Chimeran, pointing its claw upwards. "Get...that...scum!"

He let his claw drop, and let out a groan. Delacroix and Cyrus went upstairs to begin their pursuit of the invader. They looked up into the sky, and watched several missiles and shells race towards the airship from the _Aronnax_. The craft fired several small, very faint red laser beams at them from its underside, and all of the projectiles detonated prematurely.

"Looks like that thing's got some anti-missile defenses." said Delacroix.

"No kidding!" shouted Cyrus. "Just focus on that thing attacking the village! If there are any other survivors, they'll be ripped apart. Not to mention the townspeople will be caught in the crossfire."

The airship then responded by firing a stream of bullets at the warship. As it did so, it also activated several turrets on the underside, with radiant red searchlights attached, near where the lasers were fired. The lights swept back-and-forth over the land, and anyone that got caught in the light was mowed down by gunfire.

* * *

There were sounds and explosions in the distance, audible even deep inside the underground tunnel. Paolo glared furiously at Mutio, and grabbed her by the neck. He lifted her up towards the ceiling, and growled. Alex and Pete aimed their guns at him, but the bodyguards trained their weapons on them.

"What made them come back here?" he demanded, an insidious look on his face. "Did you lead them this way?"

Mutio shook her head. Her mouth hung open in fear and let out a strained whine.

"Stop your sniveling." snarled Paolo, baring his teeth. "Or do you _want_ me to bash your head in, you miserable, human-loving little guppy?! Do you want that? Huh? Do ya?"

Mutio crossed her arms in front of her head, and feebly cried out:

"Do not want! Do not want!"

Katsuma rushed over to Paolo, and tore Mutio away from him. She slinked behind Katsuma, and went between Alex and Pete.

"You get away from her." growled Katsuma. "She didn't count on this happening. _None_ of us did. We need to work together if we want to get out of here alive. Can you travel?"

"Yes." said Paolo. "But...I have reservations about the land-dweller settlement nearby."

"They're probably under attack, too." said Katsuma. "Now let's go."

Pete, Alex, Katsuma, Mutio, Paolo, and his two bodyguards left the cave.

* * *

The robot bounded towards town. It first came upon a small outhouse behind a shack, and approached it. The man inside opened the door, only to close it again when he saw the machine standing outside. As soon as he closed the door, the robot fired a dozen flechettes through it. The occupant screamed in agony as the gun was fired, before abruptly going quiet. Then it turned towards the shack, and fired a missile from its torso. The back of the shack was disintegrated in the blast, and the structure collapsed in on itself.

Several townspeople ran up to it, shouting obscenities and throwing random junk in retaliation. At first, the mechanical menace seemed to ignore them. However, it started to emit a hum that was becoming louder and louder by the second. Its right shoulder-cannon was now aimed at the middle of the crowd.

 _BVOOM-BVOOM!_

A sonic wave shot out from the shoulder-cannon, and several people were sent flying backwards through the air. Some hit the ground, while others crashed into buildings. The others ran frantically away. One of them ran up to a tree, and started climbing it. The machine approached it, and looked up. It reached upwards. All four of the man's limbs were wrapped around a branch, clinging from the underside for dear life.

"Is that all you got?!" yelled the man, defiantly. "You got nothin'!"

He was knocked down, and hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Agh! Medic!"

He was grabbed, and then tossed aside. Several more townspeople ran towards the intruder, armed with revolvers and double-barreled shotguns. They each fired several shots, but they struck down by flechettes. One more man came out, armed with a chainsaw.

"I'll rip you to shreds!" he shrieked.

At that point, Cyrus and Delacroix had caught up to the rampaging robot. They watched as the man ran towards the machine with his chainsaw revved up, before being swatted away like a gnat. Another group of townspeople was getting ready to attack, but...

"Run!" Cyrus yelled to them. "What the hell's wrong with all of you? Stop...confronting...that thing! You have no idea what it is! Get out of here, and let _us_ handle it!"

The remaining townspeople obeyed and ran away, just as the automaton continued its rampage. Eventually, it steered away from the village, and started heading towards the _Aronnax_. Cyrus and Delacroix flanked the machine from different directions, and aimed their guns.

"Hey, scrapheap!"

 _BANG!_

Cyrus fired a shot from his Browning HP from behind, hitting one of the generators, which began to erupt in sparks. The automaton turned itself around. As it did so, Delacroix leaped onto the machine from the left, and fired at the "head" with his Inglis. The bullet bounced off, hit him in the ear, and he lost his grip. When he fell to the ground, he rolled around, shooting the automaton's shoulder weapons. The needlegun was disabled, but the wave-blaster remained intact.

"Get out of there!" yelled Cyrus.

But it was too late. Delacroix was impaled between the ribs on one of the robot's legs, mortally wounding him. With the last of his strength, Delacroix threw his Inglis at Cyrus, who caught it with incredible reflexes. Wielding both pistols, Cyrus fired several more shots at the generators in the back, shouting furiously as he did so. When he ran out of ammo for both guns, he took out a grenade on his belt. Seeing that the machine was on the verge of falling apart, he prepared to pull the pin. However, the automaton was in no hurry to accept defeat. Its wave-blaster wheeled around, and let out a hum. Cyrus ripped the pin out, and tossed the explosive at the machine. At the same time, a sonic blast erupted towards him. The automaton was hit by the shockwaves of the explosive, but Cyrus himself was sent flying hurdling backwards through the air. The automaton collapsed in a heap of flaming, sparking metal, while pieces of shrapnel were pushed in Cyrus' direction.

When he hit the ground, he began clutching the right side of his face, which was bleeding intensely. Several other pieces of metal had penetrated his body, and there was a powerful ringing in his ears from the sonic wave. He writhed in agony, screaming at the top of his lungs as he pounded the rocky soil with his free hand. During his thrashing, he could barely make out the airship in the distance, dropping even more objects into the water near the _Aronnax_. Finally, he succumbed to his intense pain and passed out.

* * *

Just off the shore, the marines were discharging their assault rifles at the mechanized creatures that were dropped from the aircraft. Boat after boat exploded, scattering men and women in the air and landing in the water. Under the water, the Grampus had transformed into its combat mode, and was grappling with two robots at once, smashing them both together.

"That's two of them!" said Kino. "Just four more left."

A third floated towards them, discharging its needleguns. Unlike the Riptides' guns in Miami, the flechettes were able to leave marks in the Grampus' armor. Then a hum came on the sonar.

"What the hell is that?!" yelled an alert Hayami.

The robot's wave-blaster fired, sending ripples towards the Grampus. The humming became a deafening screech that was so intense that it forced both pilots of the Grampus to throw off their headsets before they went deaf. The sonar and radar equipment aboard the Grampus was disrupted, and sparks shot out in both cockpits. Hayami frantically tried to get his headset back on.

"Kino!" he shouted. "Kino, do you read me? My sonar's been knocked out."

But there was no response; their communications system had been knocked out, too. Not only could they not contact anyone outside, they couldn't even try communicating with each other. There was only one option left: separation. Hayami hit a red switch on the left side of his cockpit, and then pressed a button next to it. The button lit up with a yellow light. An identical light came on in Kino's cockpit. She looked at it, then turned as best as she could to look at Hayami. They exchanged nods, and Kino flipped her own switch, and pressed the glowing button. There was a loud beep and an alarm announcing that the Grampus was separating into two smaller submersible craft; Kino controlled the front half, while Hayami controlled what was once the back.

The two mini-Grampuses rotated so that they were facing away from each other, and unfolded. Arms and motors were now appearing on the sides and back, respectively. Kino's mini-Grampus produced a torpedo-launcher at the nose, while Hayami's had twin needleguns flanking his cockpit.

"Let's dance." said Hayami, smirking devilishly.


	16. Traitor

Trey and Campbell ran on towards the ship, on pure adrenaline. They saw the King Stallion pass over them. Surprised, they ran towards it as fast as they could, yelling and babbling for the helicopter to land. After a while, it did. They waited for the doors to open, and then dove inside. Luke, Matt, and the ship's doctor met them immediately.

"What happened?" said Luke, over the commotion.

"Village got attacked!" said a harried Campbell. "Cyrus still back there. Needs help. Go, go, go!"

"On it!" said Rockefeller.

Trey noticed the cat-girl sitting in a corner.

"So you found one of them?" he asked.

"Her name's...Amahwooshoo."

"Amonyushuu!" corrected the cat-girl.

"Whatever." said Matt.

He held a hand up to his mouth and whispered to Trey:

"She's kind of a nerd, but she ain't that bad."

"Yeah, well..." said Trey. "Don't get too comfortable with her. After this is over, she's out of here."

* * *

Pete, Alex, and the Chimerans escaped from the cave, and out into the cold outdoor air. They looked up and saw the airship. Mutio gasped in horror, and Paolo's claws shook with anger.

"Damn that…thing!" snarled Paolo. "It killed so many of us…"

"We need to get back to the ship." said Katsuma. "The Canadians are here to help us. And we need to help them!"

"Then they're wasting their time and their lives." said Paolo. "Let them perish."

"Okay, this guy's pissing me off." said Pete. "Can I please shoot him?"

At that moment, Mutio put her hands on her head and shrieked in terror. Nearby on the shore was a familiar man, laying horribly injured and bleeding.

"Cyrus!" she yelled.

She scampered over to him with the speed of a cheetah. She knelt over him, her eyes and mouth shaking. Cyrus had several bruises and open wounds in his body, including around his right eye.

"Oh my god…it's Cyrus!" said Pete, when he caught up to Mutio. "Aww…no! Not Cyrus! Those sons of bitches killed him! What are we gonna…"

Katsuma elbowed him, and approached Mutio, who was in the middle of crying into Cyrus' chest.

"Cyrussss…" she wept. "Cyrus!"

Katsuma crouched to put his hand on Cyrus' wrist. After a few seconds, he looked at Mutio.

"It's okay. He's still alive. We need to get him some medical attention, or he won't stay that way for long."

Mutio frantically propped Cyrus' unconscious body with her arms to try helping him up. Alex and Pete both grabbed his arms, and cradled him between their shoulders. Then they steadily marched him back towards the village. Katsuma, Paolo, and the Squidheads followed. They stumbled on the burning pile of scrap metal that was once a robot.

"Yes, that's it." said Paolo. "That's one of those things that the airship used to destroy our Musuca."

"I thought they were bombs." said Katsuma.

The group continued on to the village. They rushed to the Buccaneer's Bar, which was closest. They carefully placed Cyrus on the table, and stood around him. Katsuma studied the injuries.

"Anyone here know anything about treating shrapnel wounds?" he asked.

Alex nodded his head. Alex took whiskey from behind the bar, and placed it next to Cyrus.

"Pete, help him." said Katsuma.

"Wha…me?" asked Pete. "Why?"

"Just do it." said Katsuma. "Cyrus needs his wounds treated and fast."

"And what about us?" asked Paolo, referring to himself and the Squidheads.

"Paolo, why don't you kindly go f-" said Pete, before being interrupted by a gurgling noise.

A large Chimeran body limped out of the destroyed cellar, his crustacean-like body riddled in metal darts.

"What the hell is that?!" exclaimed Pete.

"Franchesco!" said Paolo. "I thought you were dead."

"Is anyone else hurt?"

"Cyrus is hurt pretty bad." said Katsuma. "We need someone that can help."

Mutio made several urgent hissing noises to Franchesco.

"It will be done." said Franchesco. "I know what to do."

"You…you do?" asked Pete.

"The Chimeran you're looking at right now is an experienced medic," said Franchesco. "and has treated many wounds for other Chimerans. A human should be no different."

He approached Cyrus, and leaned over him, pinching his claw.

"Now, on which part of this man's body are his gills?" he asked.

Everyone else scoffed, facepalmed, or just glared at him.

"Nobody here understands a joke." grumbled Franchesco. "How embarrassing."

His oddly-shaped hand grabbed the landlord's discarded rag off the ground. He used it to wipe as much of the blood off of Cyrus' body as he could. At that moment, there was the sound of a helicopter flying over them.

"Oh, great." said Pete, drawing out his pistol. "More company."

Pete and Alex went outside to investigate the sound, while Mutio peeked over the table to look at Cyrus. She simply couldn't believe that it was just a few days since she first met him, but she was so concerned for him. This situation also reminded her of that night when she was carried into his hotel room to have her own wounds treated. Except Cyrus was considerably quiet compared to her. Too quiet. Mutio could only hope that he _was_ just unconscious.

At that very moment, Pete and Alex ran back into the building, accompanied by Campbell and a doctor from the _Aronnax_.

"Oh my god...Cyrus!" exclaimed Campbell. "We gotta help him."

"Leave that to me." said the doctor.

"Oh, good." said Paolo. "More blasted humans!"

"Ah, yes." said the doctor. "I see that your group has managed to find more survivors."

"More?" repeated Paolo.

"Yes." said the doctor. "We have another Chimeran on the chopper outside. A young cat-girl."

"Amonyushuu!" said Paolo. "So she _is_ alive!"

He marched out to the helicopter, while the others huddled around Cyrus.

"Cyrus, please don't be dead..." said Campbell.

He tried to wipe the blood off Cyrus' face, causing him to start writhing in agony on the table, hollering and viciously flailing his legs and arms like some rabid animal.

He opened his left eye (his right eyelid was too sore and caked in blood to open). He took a quick look at Mutio, and sighed in relief.

"Mutio..." he rasped. "You saved me again."

He felt a sharp pain under his clothing, on the left rib. He opened it, and took out his locket. To his horror, the locket was dented outwards on one side and had a piece of shrapnel lodged through the middle on the other side. He had to struggle to get it opened. When he did, he gasped audibly, and his eyes started welling up with tears.

"No..." he moaned bitterly. "Jesus Christ, no!"

He dropped the locket between his legs. Mutio picked it up, and gasped. The picture of Julie and Maria had been ripped through the center by the grenade fragment.

"Cyrus..." she said to him.

Katsuma shuddered.

"I...sense something." he said. "I need to check it out."

"What is it?" asked Pete.

But Katsuma already rushed out the door.

* * *

Paolo lumbered towards the helicopter. Trey and Matt were both inside guarding Amonyushuu, while Rockefeller was outside inspecting the chopper for spots that he would need to fix, and Luke was nearby watching the battle in the distance. He immediately startled Luke, who pulled out his Glock and pointed it at him.

"Hey! Keep your distance." he said, flustered. "You're another survivor, right?"

"That's correct, yes." said Paolo. "I heard that Amonyushuu is aboard your aircraft."

"The cat-girl?" nodded Luke. "Yeah."

"Then get out of my way." Paolo barged past him.

Trey and Rockefeller both drew out their guns.

"I want Amonyushuu!" said Paolo.

"What for?" asked Rockefeller.

"What do you think, you stupid human?" asked Paolo. "I'm trying to regroup with my kind! There are few of us left, and we need to stick together."

There was a loud explosion in the distance. It seemed to come from the _Aronnax_. Nearby birds were taking off into the sky, trying to fly away from the sounds of combat.

"Well?"

"Fine." said Rockefeller. "But don't make a mess."

"Thank you..."

Paolo entered the King Stallion, and towered over a timid Amonyushuu. The cat-girl's eyes widened.

"P-Paolo?" she stammered.

"This is a horrible place to be, little one." he told her. "I need to take you away from these people, and bring you back to your brother."

"She doesn't need to go anywhere, fish-face." said Matt, walking up to him.

"Where is Captain Zara?" asked Amonyushuu.

"Unfortunately, he is dead." said Paolo. "His injuries were too great. Now come along. We need to leave."

"I can barely move yet..."

"Then I will carry you out." said Paolo. "All the way to Verg if you force me to."

 _CLICK!_

"What do you know about Verg?" asked Trey.

Trey had snuck up behind Paolo, and was pointing a pistol at the turtle-man.

"Where is he?"

Paolo slowly turned around to face the man threatening him.

"How does it concern you?"

"Verg and I have unfinished business." said Trey. "You tell me where he is, or I'll bust a cap in your ugly-as-shit face!"

"Go ahead and pull the trigger." taunted Paolo. "Your gun can't do anything to me. My shell is unbreakable, and my skin is very tough."

Trey then pointed the gun at Amonyushuu, much to her and Matt's surprise.

"Trey, what the hell?!" Matt exclaimed.

" _She_ ain't got tough skin!" said Trey. "You tell me where Verg is, or she gets capped!"

"Do you see why I didn't want you with them?" asked Paolo. "They are psychopaths!"

"Nah." said Trey. "These guys ain't psychos. But I can be."

He quickly grabbed Amonyushuu by her arm and forced her to stand upright. The gun was now aimed at her head.

"I'm gonna count to three..." said Trey.

"Trey, don't do it!" said Matt.

"If you don't tell me where Verg is before I'm done, this kitty-kat gets it!"

Paolo bent forward.

"One..."

"You kill her, and Verg will kill me." he growled.

"Two..."

"Fine." said Paolo. "He is in the country that you humans call Greenland."

Trey lowered the gun.

"Good job, pussycat." he told her, patting Amonyushuu on the shoulder.

She looked up at him, both confused and terrified. So did Matt.

"Not sure why you humans would call it green, though." said Paolo. "There's not the slightest amount of green anywhere over there."

He growled again.

"But it doesn't matter, anyway!" said Paolo.

"Why not?" asked Matt.

"Because you'll never make it there."

He knocked everyone aside, ran straight for the King Stallion's controls, and punched through them with his fist. Rockefeller ran into the helicopter with his gun out.

"You son of a bitch!" he yelled, shooting him with his Ruger assault rifle.

But the bullets just bounced off of Paolo's shell. He pulled his fist out, ripping several wires out in the process. Then he punched both fists through the ceiling, and pulled the metal apart. Then he climbed out through the hole, and snapped off the rotary blades one by one.

"I'll kill him for this!" Rockefeller hollered furiously.

He fired through the ceiling, but still to no avail. Then he picked up Campbell's Mambi AMR and ran outside. He mounted the gun on his shoulder and pointed it at Paolo, who was reaching into the hole to grab Amonyushuu. He then fired a deafening shot into the hybrid's torso. The bullet hit him square in the lower abdomen, penetrating his shell and knocking him clean off the ruined aircraft.

Rockefeller smirked, despite his body shaking all over. He went over to Paolo, and was soon joined by Luke and the other humans as they gathered around him. Campbell, Pete, Alex, Franchesco, Campbell, and the two Squidheads emerged from the bar.

"What the hell is going on?" said Pete.

He looked up at the helicopter.

"Holy f..." he mumbled.

Everyone gathered around Paolo, who could barely move.

"Why did you destroy my helicopter?" demanded Rockefeller. "You've stranded us, asshole!"

"Because no help is coming to Verg." said Paolo.

"Why not?" asked Campbell.

"You...have...no idea what's waiting for all of you out there." Paolo rasped. "That airship is only the beginning. The Masters are everywhere. They will come back and kill you all. Verg is probably going to be killed, too, once they finish following the trail of bread-crumbs that I placed for them."

"Bread-crumbs?" asked Campbell. "What, so you're the one that had the Musucas destroyed?"

"Yes..." guffawed Paolo. "The Masters promised me a place in their organization, provided that I help them destroy their enemies. Not everyone is happy with peace between our kinds, you know."

"But how did they know where to find them?"

"I placed tracking devices on each of them while they were all still in Antarctica. The airship did the rest. Some of them on the Musucas themselves, others on individual hybrids."

"So that's why Mount Weather got attacked." said Matt. "Because one of the hybrids they're holding there must have had one of your devices."

"Or maybe the Army took the tracking device from the Musuca in New York." said Campbell. "How many Musucas and hybrids were bugged?"

"Just enough." said Paolo. "You won't be able to find them all and save them, though."

"Why the hell would you bug your own Musuca to get attacked?" asked Pete.

"That's because I didn't." said Paolo. "I came for Amonyushuu, and only Amonyushuu. The fact that she's alive and the only known survivor of this Musuca's crew is all the more convenient for me."

"Wait, the only survivor...Does that mean..." Pete muttered, before turning to face Franchesco and the Squidheads.

The humans all backed away, and pulled guns on the four Chimerans. The three standing hybrids all braced for combat.


	17. Conclusion of Battle

A stand-off ensued between the humans and Chimerans. All the humans had guns, but none of the hybrids seemed intimidated. The Squidheads brandished their weapons and dove straight for Paolo. Knocking aside the humans, they grabbed his arms, and lifted him up with impressive strength. However, his legs were numb and wobbly, so he could stand.

"I won't forget this!" he growled at Rockefeller. "I'll find you, and I'll kill you!"

"Not gonna happen!" Trey replied, pointing his gun at him.

The other humans did the same. But just before they could start shooting, there was a series of heavy thuds coming from the direction of the ocean. Everyone turned to investigate the source of the sound. It was a large, crustacean-like machine with long pincers and a series of red lights at the front.

"Kumo!" shouted Campbell.

The Kumo surveyed the group, analyzing the Chimerans, and then the humans that were aiming guns at them. Immediately, it advanced on the latter. It attempted to swipe at them with its claw, but they were able to spread around and evade it. In seconds, they all opened fire with their various firearms. The Kumo flinched, but did not falter. Then Campbell, who took the Mambi back from Rockefeller, fired a shot into the Kumo's central module, causing it to burst into flames. It flailed its claws, then collapsed into a nearby building. Ignoring the exhaustion he felt from firing the gun, Campbell ran towards the burning chassis. He beckoned the others to gather around, when a hatch on the top of the Kumo's "head" swung open. Immediately, a screaming voice was heard. A woman's voice.

"The pilot's trapped inside!" said Campbell. "C'mon, let's help."

But before they could do anything, the pilot climbed out of the destroyed machine, and lunged straight at Campbell. It was a nereid, just like Mutio. However, she had blue eyes-or rather, _one_ blue eye; her right eye-socket was scarred and unable to open. She was slowly throttling the life out of Campbell, just as another Kumo emerged from the mist. Torn between the shock of the pilot's attack and the second Kumo's arrival, the rest of the humans were at a standstill. The new Kumo was in much better condition than the first, and had its needleguns aimed and ready to fire. At that moment, Mutio emerged from the inn, and came in front of the Kumo. She started making hissing noises, jumping excitedly, and waving her arms in an attempt to signal the pilot. The Kumo immediately lowered its needleguns, and the pilot of the first Kumo let Campbell go.

The one-eyed nereid approached Mutio, with an angry look on her face. She growled at her sister, and made several strange noises to communicate with her. Mutio replied back more calmly, as the second Kumo opened its hatch. Out came the pilot, who was also female, but seemed remarkably different from the nereids.

She had a similar physique to the nereids, but was slightly larger. She was also nude, with a milky-white body. Her emotionless face had wide dark purple eyes, a pointed chin, and a narrow nose that was black at the tip and around the nostrils. She had shoulder-length purple hair, ears that were even longer and pointier than the nereids', thin hands with black palms and sharp fingernails, and narrow flipper-like feet, but no visible gills or fins. While the nereids had a mixture of cat and Koi fish DNA, this hybrid appeared to be a mixture of Arctic wolf and sirenian.

Mutio approached the hybrid, who tilted her head curiously. At that moment, Rockefeller cleared his throat.

"What happened to those other guys?" he asked.

Everyone looked around. Paolo's group was gone.

"Son of a bitch!" Pete yelled. "They got away. Nice going, girls!"

The one-eyed nereid hissed at Pete.

"Yeah, especially you!" said Pete. "We would've blasted those guys if you didn't get in the way."

The nereid yowled, and was poised to strike, but Campbell pulled her back. By the time she broke free of him, Mutio had placed herself between him and Pete.

"This is all a mistake!" said Campbell. "Those hybrids betrayed you! They got your friends all killed!"

The nereid paused, dumbstruck. Then she looked around glaringly at the humans. Then at Mutio. She grabbed her by the neck, then hissed angrily at her. Mutio whimpered, but the wolf-woman put a hand on her shoulder to make her stop.

Finally, Amonyushuu stood up and walked out of the helicopter to meet the Kumo pilots. She first approached the one-eyed nereid and the wolf-woman.

"Giorgia! Levina!" she exclaimed. "It's so good to know you survived."

Then she looked at Mutio, and smiled at her.

"I'm glad to see you, too." she said, before turning back to her sister. "Giorgia, are there any other survivors?"

Giorgia shook her head, frowning harder than before.

"I'm so sorry to hear that."

There was yet another loud explosion coming from the direction of the _Aronnax_. They had all forgotten about the battle that was raging nearby.

"Oh, damn!" said Rockefeller. "They're still being attacked. We need to help them somehow. Hayami and Kino are both back there."

Mutio gasped. She looked around. She noticed the hatch in Levina's Kumo was still open. She made some hissing and chirping noises at the wolf-woman, who nodded her head.

"What the hell are you doing, Mutio?" asked Pete.

Mutio rushed over to the Kumo and climbed into it, shutting the hatch as soon as she got in. The crustacean-like machine sprang to life and stood up, its numerous red lights once again illuminated. Everyone stared in awe as the Kumo bounded away into the cold mist.

"Wow." said Matt. "Will she able to handle herself?"

"Yes, Matt." said Amonyushuu. "Mutio is one of our best Kumo pilots."

"Really?"

"Yes. I've never seen her fight, but Verg always told me how she was his favorite out of all of her sisters."

"Hmph!" snorted Giorgia.

"Hey..." Trey approached Amonyushuu. "What do you know about Verg? I want to know what he's like."

"Yeah, so do I." said Matt.

* * *

Hayami rammed directly into one of the robots, shattering it instantly. Then he fired a series of flechettes at a second. Kino launched a barrage of torpedoes at the others. There were a series of explosions before her, but one of the robots still escaped the bombardment. It rammed into her head-on, knocking both of them into a nearby rock with a massive crash.

"Kino!" shouted Hayami.

To his surprise and relief, Kino's vessel wasn't destroyed. She pushed the robot back, and started wrestling with it across the water, towards the shore. Hayami followed after them, surfacing on the water. As soon as he was topside, he noticed that the airship was now flying away from the _Aronnax_ , which was in flames, and dozens of people were in the water around it, both alive and dead. But there were also people in lifeboats rescuing the survivors, allowing him to continue helping Kino. The robot jumped onto Kino's mini-Grampus, and was shooting at her hull with its flechette cannon. Hayami blasted dozens of flechettes from his needleguns into the robot, completely obliterating it. He got to shore, disembarked from his mini-Grampus, and went up to Kino's. Her mini-Grampus was badly damaged, but still functional. Kino climbed out, dazed but otherwise uninjured.

"Did we win?" she asked.

"Yeah." asked Hayami. "I think we did."

He looked up at the airship, which was now disappearing into the clouds that were gathering over them.

"So what should we do about that?"

"I have no clue, Hayami." said Kino.

One of the lifeboats was now coming ashore nearby, laden with marines and sailors. Two of the marines were carrying a sailor ashore. He was bleeding intensely.

"Oh my god..." gasped Kino, running over to help.

Suddenly, the water rippled and the lifeboat was disintegrated, along with everyone still aboard it. A battered robot emerged from the water. It raised its guns, and opened fire on the three men, killing them all.

"No!" she yelled, pulling out her sidearm.

She fired multiple shots at the machine, but Hayami pulled her away. Just in time, too; the machine fired a missile at them, just barely missing them and hitting Hayami's mini-Grampus instead. Hayami pulled out his Buckmark, and shot the machine with it even as he lay on the frigid soil. His gun jammed, and the robot made another humming noise. But just before it could fire its sonic weapon, it was struck by several flechettes.

"What the hell?" Hayami muttered.

A Kumo appeared behind it, and tackled it to the ground. Using its spindly but powerful arms, it pulled the robot's limbs and weapons apart, and then crushed its bulk under its sheer weight. Then the Kumo got back up, and approached Hayami and Kino. The latter got up and aimed her gun at it.

"Well, what do you wanna do this time?" she muttered under her breath.

She was about to pull the trigger, when the Kumo's hatch opened up. To their surprise, it was Mutio that climbed out of it.

"Hayami!" she exclaimed, rushing over to support him and ignoring Kino completely.

She tried helping him to his feet, but Hayami stopped her.

"It's okay, Mutio." he told her, panting. "I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm fine!"

Mutio put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. At that moment, more lifeboats were approaching the shoreline, carrying the last survivors of the _Aronnax_. Once everyone was ashore and they could confirm the area was secured, the captain approached Hayami, Mutio, and Kino.

"Damn good job out there, all of you." he told them. "But we suffered heavy casualties."

"How many, sir?" asked Kino.

"Fifty-nine crew, thirty-seven marines." said the captain. "And two dozen or so injured. Of the two hundred and fifty aboard my ship, about a hundred and twenty are still fit for action. The ship's completely crippled; she's too badly damaged to go anywhere. My engineers still haven't estimated how long it will take to make repairs."

Soon, the remaining townspeople from Nogadsville, the Musuca survivors, and the Miami team arrived to meet with them. Paolo's group and Katsuma were still nowhere to be found, though.

"Horrible, just horrible." grumbled Phillip Knox. "Will this madness ever end? This entire place has gone to Hell."

He glared at the Chimerans.

"It's all their fault." he said. " It wasn't enough that Zorndyke flooded out homes, was it? They just had to come this way and get us entangled with their bullshit."

"They didn't count on this happening." said Campbell. "They're just trying to survive, like you. Like any of us."

"Bah!" snapped Phillip. "Who asked you, anyway?"

He brandished his Colt Python, and cocked the hammer.

"I oughta shoot them all right now." he growled. "It's better than they deserve."

"Don't even think about it, Mr. Knox!" said the captain. "Those hybrids are under our protection."

"Your protection?" asked Knox. "They slaughtered billions of people worldwide, including and getting most of my own people killed, and you're protecting them? You know what? Never mind. I don't even care. I'm sick of living anyway."

He pointed the gun at his head. But before he could pull the trigger, Matt stopped him, taking the revolver out of his hand.

"Wait!" he said. "You don't need to do that!"

"Why the hell not, boy?" asked Phillip. "I'm old, I'm tired, in pain, and grieving."

"You shouldn't kill yourself when there are still people depending on you."

"Yeah!" said one of the townspeople, a young brown-haired woman. "We'd be lost without you! There's still hope for us!"

"What hope?" asked Phillip. "Our town's destroyed. Everything we've struggled to build is lost."

"We built a town out of scratch before." said the woman. "We can do it again. We just need to find somewhere else to call home. Will you please give it another chance?"

Phillip paused, and looked at the worried faces of all the other townspeople.

"Fine, Sandra." he said, a surge of confidence in his voice. "One more try."

He looked over at Matt. He painstakingly bent over and gave the revolver to him.

"Here, kid." he told him. "It's all yours. I don't think I'll be needing it. But _you_ will, if you're really going after the ones who destroyed my town."

* * *

Author's note: Levina's description is actually based on how I remembered Mutio looking as a kid.


	18. Parting of Ways

The crew of the Aronnax was now getting ready to cross over to the mainland in the remaining boats they had left. They were bringing with them the remainder of the citizens of Nogadsville, whom they promised to find a more suitable place to live. That just left Hayami, Kino, the Chimerans, and the Miami team on the island to leave by whatever means that they could.

"So what's the story, Kino?" asked Hayami.

"No good, Hayami." said Kino, who was examining the heavily damaged mini-Grampus. "Your pod's completely shot. There's no way I can fix it from here."

"Great." said Hayami. "Looks like one of us will have to stick to dry land, or find a boat."

"Looks like it." said Kino. "Any word about Katsuma?"

"Nothing." said Hayami. "I wonder where he went..."

"Well, why don't you go and check on the others? I'll try to contact Blue Fleet."

"How do you plan to do that?" asked Hayami. "Our communications equipment was disabled by those robots."

"There's an emergency mechanism in the Grampus that will send out a distress message." said Kino. "I just need to..."

She grunted as she tried pulling out loose circuits.

"Will you get going already?"

"Yes, ma'am." nodded Hayami, nonchalantly.

As he walked away, he stuck a cigarette in his mouth, and slowly lit it. He looked around at all the people around him. Then at the gray sky above, where many flocks of geese were flying. Then he looked at the sea, which was now eerily still.

* * *

Dozens of miles away, Blue-6 was traveling northwards through the depths of the Atlantic. Its periscope was surveying the surface of the ocean, but to no avail. They seemed to be the only ones out there. They were on the trail of yet another Musuca that was headed towards the Arctic.

"Yamada, do we have anything on sonar?" asked Captain Tokuhiro Iga, who was manning the periscope.

"Nothing but fish, sir." said the sonar operator, adjusting his headset. "Maybe an octopus or sea turtle, too, but nothing that looks Chimeran."

Executive Officer Yuri Majakovski, who stood next to Iga, cleared his throat.

"Sir, do we really need to get ourselves involved in this?" he asked. "Hayami and Kino probably have everything covered."

"The rest of Blue Fleet can handle the uprising in Jamaica." said Iga, letting go of the periscope. "But if what Brigadier-General Wells told us is true, it'll take more than a Grampus to stop whatever might be attacking the Musucas."

"Can we trust the word of the American military, sir?" asked Yuri. "Their whole government seems to be very shady. How do we know that they've told us everything about the situation?"

Iga closed his eyes and shook his head.

"We don't." he said. "But I know that Hayami and Lt. Kino will need our help out there."

"Hmph..." snorted Yuri, unamused. "Hayami..."

Even though Hayami had remained a part of Blue Fleet even after the Antarctic War was over, Yuri still seemed unsure of whether Hayami actually cared about anyone at Blue Fleet. He hardly spoke to anyone other than Kino, and he was always volunteering on missions that would take him as far from Blue-6 as possible: Reconnaissance, supply runs, and so forth.

He had a feeling that the only reason why Hayami seemed to be staying with Blue Fleet at all was so that he could find that fish-girl, or Mr. Nonaka. Ever since the war ended, the hybrids had all retreated into the deepest parts of the ocean, leaving Antarctica unoccupied. Since Blue Dome was destroyed, they had relocated their base of operations to Stream Base, which Zorndyke's forces had invaded and occupied a couple of years ago. Mr. Nonaka stayed with Blue Fleet for a while, but he never got along to well with anyone other than Hayami and Huang. One day, he left on a recon mission to find Zorndyke's creatures, never to return.

Yuri doubted that anything nefarious might have happened to him out there, and he just deserted them to try and fit in with the rest of those freaks that Blue Fleet had to babysit now. The same freaks that they were at war with once. Yuri exhaled through his nostrils.

"Permission to visit the latrines, sir?" he asked, trying to disguise his frustration.

"Granted, Yuri." replied Iga.

As he was about to leave the bridge, Alexander David Cekeros, one of the two navigators of the submarine, turned around to call for him.

"Hey, Yuri!" he said. "If you decide to stop by the mess hall on the way back, how about you bring back some root beer? My throat's drier than the Gobi Desert!"

Yuri grumbled something that nobody else was able to catch, but could determine from his body language that it was quite vulgar.

"Wow, what's his problem?" he turned to ask Freeda, the other navigator.

Freeda had just enough time to shrug before Yun Myong Hae, the communications officer, exclaimed:

"Captain, we're picking up a signal! It's from Kino and Hayami's Grampus!"

* * *

Cyrus and the rest of the Miami team were sitting around a campfire, accompanied by the Musuca survivors. Cyrus was still badly injured and unable to move of his own accord, but was in no danger of expiring...yet. Mutio was nursing him and bringing him food. Hayami studied the distressed expression on Mutio's face as she put her hand on Cyrus's brow. As he came up to them, Mutio turned to face him.

"Hayami." she said to him, slowly. "Can...help...Cyrus?"

"I don't know what I can do about him." said Hayami, who looked at the barely conscious ex-cop.

Mutio's lip quivered.

"I'm sorry, Mutio." said Hayami. "I'm not a doctor. Wasn't there somebody looking after him?"

"There was that guy from the ship." said Rockefeller. "But he's tending to the marines and sailors that were injured during the battle."

"Is there anything you guys can do about Cyrus?" he asked.

"I've done everything I can, man." said Trey. "But we can't promise no miracles."

He looked at Cyrus, and watched as he spat out some blood. He then added:

"He's a tough dude, though." said Luke. "He's been in drunken stupors worse than that."

Mutio knelt down over Cyrus again, and ran her fingers through his hair. Amonyushuu went up to join them.

"I'm happy to see that you made more human friends, Mutio." she said to her. "It's a shame that the rest of our kind didn't have that kind of luck."

"Why not?" asked Matt.

"Yeah, why?" echoed Pete. "What made you guys want to kill all of us in the first place?"

Amonyushuu looked at them nervously.

"Well..." she hesitated. "I never wanted to kill anyone. If you meant Verg's navy, they were just following papa's orders. Papa was always very sad about something. I once asked why he was sad, and he told me that your kind hurt him."

"Hurt him." said Trey, giving a hollow laugh without smiling. "I'm sure he was-"

Matt put a hand in front of his brother.

"How did they hurt him?" Matt interrupted.

"He never told me." said Amonyushuu.

Mutio started typing on her device.

"I know. Civil war. Family was killed."

"Oh, so that's what it was?" asked Pete.

"How do you know this, Mutio?" asked Hayami.

"Dr. Cameron told me." Mutio typed.

"Oh, yeah..." muttered Hayami. "I remember..."

He sat down, next to Cyrus and Mutio. The others joined him.

"When Kino and I were in Antarctica, Zorndyke told us about that ethnic cleansing in Albania all those years ago. Some extremist group attacked the capital city of Tirana with a dirty bomb, and thousands of people were killed. The government couldn't figure out what extremist group it was, so they started rounding people up based on their religious affiliations and started mass executing them. The public didn't take that too well, so they started rioting in all the major cities. The Albanian military went nuts on them, and more killings happened. By the time it was over, his entire family was dead."

"Damn..." said Campbell. "That's...horrible."

He got up, looked around at the others for a moment, then gazed at the ruins of Halifax in the distance.

"Okay, it looks like I'm going." said Campbell.

"You're what?" asked Luke.

The others stopped to look at him.

"You heard me. I'm going back home."

"Why don't you stay with us?" asked Luke. "You're an awesome sniper. Nobody else can do it like you."

"Because I've gotta go home and check on my mom." said Campbell. "All this talk about Zorndyke's family made me think about my own. I wanna make sure that she's okay."

He pointed out the ruined city.

"Halifax is right there." he pointed out. "Maybe I could get over there with the Aronnax crew, find some abandoned motorbike or car, and then drive all the way back to Montreal."

"Are you sure, Rick?" asked Rockefeller. "We may be on Canadian soil, but it's still going to be a long way to Montreal."

"Ah, I can take it." said Campbell. "I've survived the war, the Riptides, those robots, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I don't think a little road-trip will be that big a deal for me."

He turned to everyone.

"Bye, guys." he waved his hand. "It's been nice meeting and knowing all of you. But now it's time for me to finally go home."

Matt approached him and they exchanged high-fives. Hayami offered him a cigarette to smoke, but Campbell declined. Mutio smiled at him, and nodded her head. Alex also nodded his head. Luke waved his hand, and even Cyrus had enough strength to give him a thumbs-up.

He walked on. As he passed by Pete, he patted him on the head and said:

"I'll miss you most of all, Scarecrow."

As soon as he was out of earshot, Matt asked aloud:

"So...what do we do now?"

"Yeah, that's a good question." said Rockefeller. "With the helicopter destroyed and the frigate dead in the water, we won't have any way to get to Greenland."

"Maybe we should head inland." suggested Luke.

"So that we ask the locals for hand-outs?" asked Pete. "Nah, the hell with that! I've dealt with enough Canadians for one lifetime. I'm in no mood to be their bitch."

At that moment, a Canada Goose came down and landed next to him. It turned and honked at him.

"What the hell are you looking at?" asked Pete.

The goose hissed angrily at him and spread its wings threateningly.

"Ah, shut up." Pete grumbled, flipping it off.

The goose turned and waddled away. Ignoring this exchange, Hayami looked at the remainder of the group, as well as the Chimerans.

"Well, Kino's calling Blue Fleet right now." he said. "Maybe they could give all of you a lift out of here."

"That actually sounds like a great idea." said Rockefeller. "I prefer flying any day of the week, but we'd might as well use a naval vessel to track creatures that travel through water."

"Yeah, sure." said Pete. "Go on a tight, cramped submarine a bunch of fathoms under the sea. Did I mention I hate tight spaces?"

At that moment, the goose came back, and charged into him. He was knocked on his belly, and the goose was now pecking at the back of his head. Giorgia laughed while Levina and Amonyushuu looked on curiously.

"Ah! Ah, shit!" he yelped. "Ow! Fine, submarine sounds good! Now get this-ow!-damn bird offa me!"

As Alex and Trey fought to get the goose off of him, Hayami stared at them, as well as the rest of the Miami team.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" he wondered to himself.


	19. Welcome Aboard!

Campbell ran towards the last of the boats as they were bound for Halifax Harbor.

"Hey! Wait!" he shouted after them. "Stop!"

The people on the boat saw him, and immediately stopped to let him come aboard. Among those people were Phillip Knox and Sandra.

"Well, it's nice of you to come and join us." said Knox. "I don't think I ever caught your name."

"Campbell, sir. Rick Campbell."

"Rick, huh?" repeated Knox. "What about your buddies from Blue Fleet? Aren't they coming, too? I'm pretty sure they left boats for them. Or are ya deserting them?"

"Long story." said Campbell. "I need to get to Montreal. My mom's out there. I was thinking about finding a car or motorcycle and driving it there."

"Well you're probably in luck." said Knox. "Some of our folks mentioned seeing cars and trucks lying around the outskirts of Halifax. These marines here are going to take us through the city at the shortest route possible to get to them. Not sure if the vehicles work, though, or if we'll ever be able to get to them."

"Why not?" asked Campbell.

The boat sped on, following the others towards Halifax. Knox leaned towards Campbell and grabbed his shoulder.

"I take it you've heard folks talk about people gettin' diseases, right?"

Campbell nodded slowly.

"Well, there's a reason for that." said Knox. "Not long ago, during the war...there was some kinda outbreak here in Nova Scotia. Somethin' in the water was starting to make people sick. Very sick. They were coughin', hackin', growing weird stuff on their skin. At first, we thought they were just gettin' some very nasty rashes. But as the weeks went on, they got worse. They were gettin' thinner, their bodies started gettin' crooked, their voices were gettin' deeper, and their skin got all rough and scaly."

It was at this point that Sandra chimed in.

"The polar ice caps held all kinds of dormant viruses and bacteria." she said. "Some that are millions of years old, that no human being has ever been in contact with. But of course, the ice caps were melted, so..."

"That let the diseases out, too." finished Campbell. "Wow."

"But that ain't the worst of it, either." said Knox, his voice getting lower. "They started going mad. They started acting like...like animals."

"Like the Chimerans?"

"Nah...worse than them." whispered Knox. "Zorndyke's creatures may have been bad, but even I know they had some sort of understanding of what they were doing. But the infected...when we last saw them, there wasn't a shred of humanity left in them. They eventually went berzerk, started attacking those of us that were still normal. I can still hear those god-awful noises they would make. The baying, screeching, growling. Ugh! Lots of good people died that night. But we drove those monsters out of our town. Off our island."

"And where did they go?" asked Campbell.

"No idea." said Knox. "They could be anywhere on the mainland by now. They could even be in the ruins of Halifax."

Campbell looked ahead. They were coming closer and closer to the city, which looked even worse than it did from Devils Island. The buildings were on the verge of collapse, the streets were flooded, and there wasn't a single hint of life apart from birds flying overhead. It was almost as bad as Miami. But while Miami was situated in a warm tropical climate with sunny weather nearly all year-round and had a decent-sized population despite the apocalypse, Halifax was cold, gray, and lifeless. If there was one redeeming factor to this sight, it was that the mainland was still visible in the distance beyond the forsaken skyline.

"Rick..." Knox whispered to him. "You better have a weapon."

Campbell nodded, taking out his Glock, loading a magazine into it, and pulling back on the slide before letting it snap back into place.

* * *

Amonyushuu and Matt stood together and looked around at their surroundings. The steel-gray cloudy sky, the snow coming down around them, the rocky shores, the misty vapor in the distance, and the dark water before them.

"This place reminds me…" Amonyushuu said, softly.

"Huh?" asked Matt.

"This place makes me think of that day..." she said. "The day that papa died."

"Your papa?" asked Matt. "Oh, you mean Zorndyke?"

Amonyushuu nodded solemnly.

"That was in Antarctica, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"That was the day the war ended too, right?"

"Yes."

"What was it like?" asked Matt. "Losing your papa, I mean?"

"I was sad, as you might expect. But I couldn't bring myself to cry. In order to cope with the loss, I simply recited a few verses of the Manyoshu. Papa always loved to hear me read it to him."

"Could you recite it now?" asked Matt.

"I could." said Amonyushuu. "But which part would you like to start with?"

"I dunno." said Matt. "How many parts are there?"

"The Manyoshu consists of thousands of short poems and stories, the latest in the collection dating from AD 759." said Amonyushuu.

Matt's eyes widened in surprise.

"And, uh...how many of them have ya memorized?" asked Matt.

"Fifteen long poems, twenty-nine short poems, and a few prose passages." said Amonyushuu. "I wasn't able to finish the rest before we left Antarctica."

"Well..." said Matt. "Let's start with one of the short poems."

"Very well." said Amonyushuu. "We shall start with Taguchi Masuhito."

Amonyushuu cleared her throat and spoke:

" _Resting my eyes on the Bay of Miho,_

 _On the boundless calm of the sea,_

 _Near Cape Kiyomi of Iohara,_

 _I am free from all my cares!_

 _The whole day's light is not enough_

 _To view the Bay of Tago,_

 _Which at night, I saw, hasting_

 _At our dreadful Sovereign's word._ "

"That's pretty good. And what's all that mean?" asked Matt.

"I don't know." said Amonyushuu, sheepishly. "I just read the poems. I don't believe I have ever thought about what they mean."

"Pfft!" said Matt, chuckling. "Figures...I never understood that poetry stuff, either. Always screwed up in my creative writing class when I was still in school. My mom would always get so mad when that happened."

"What was your mother like?" asked Amonyushuu.

"She was a tough lady. She always seemed to get angry at every little thing, though." said Matt. "Not at me or Trey, though. But at my dad. They always got into some bad arguments about something. They broke up before the flooding began. She's from Jamaica, and so she went back to her family there."

Amonyushuu's ears lowered and she bent her head.

"I never had a mother." she said, softly. "None of us did. We were created in culture tanks by papa. Most of them were looked after by machines that papa programmed. But some of us, like Verg and I, were personally raised by papa."

"So Mutio and her sisters were raised by robots and computers?"

"If that's what you call them, then yes." said Amonyushuu. "Verg never liked them, though. And I never understood why."

"Uh-huh..." Matt nodded slowly.

He looked down at the shore again. Hayami was there, seated and looking out into the sea. After a while, Mutio came close to him. As she did all those months ago, on that floating wreckage in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. She sat beside him, staring in the same direction as he was. Their hair blew in the wind, but they remained still. Eventually, Hayami spoke:

"What was it like, Mutio?"

Mutio turned to look at Hayami.

"When you saw me that day, laying bloody and bruised on the shores of Antarctica, what did you see? The man who saved your life that day in Tokyo, or the man that destroyed your life as you knew it?"

Mutio tilted her head, confused.

"You remember Red Spot, right?" asked Hayami.

Mutio frowned and bowed her head. Red Spot was the Musuca that transported Hayami back to Blue Fleet when he was separated from them. Mutio was with them. Red Spot had been killed by torpedoes launched by Blue-6, which mistook them for the enemy. What happened deeply upset both of them, especially her. Red Spot was one of the few Chimerans she knew that had no interest in violence or war, and he was gone from her before she had a chance to actually know him.

"I'm really sorry about what happened to him." Hayami told her. "And about all you went through because of me. You didn't deserve to go through any of that."

He sighed. Mutio put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, and leaned towards him. She closed her eyes, and nuzzled her head against his. Hayami put an arm around her chest.

"Hayami." Mutio whispered into his ear.

 _SPLASH!_

Hayami and Mutio flinched, and suddenly found themselves facing Katsuma, who had sprung up from the water before their very eyes.

"Katsuma, what the hell?!" exclaimed Hayami, torn between shock and annoyance. "Where were you? We've been looking for you for hours!"

"Sorry, but I thought I sensed something." said Katsuma. "I had to check it out."

"While there's a battle going on?" asked Hayami, standing up. "We probably could've used your help out there!"

"I know, but..."

"Katsuma, what the hell could possibly be out there that's more important than the task at hand? We're all supposed to be on a mission here!"

"Heh." said Katsuma. "You're actually starting to sound like Iga."

Hayami sighed again.

"Look, both of you." he said to Katsuma and Mutio. "I care more about you two than I do anyone else in this entire world. I was afraid I lost each of you once. Hell, even twice. I don't want it happening again, or it might be the last time. We all need to stay together. Understand?"

Suddenly, there was a loud blaring horn in the distance. The rest of the team was now coming down to the shore, accompanied by the Musuca survivors. A vast dolphin-shaped silhouette was slowly emerging from the fog. It was Blue-6!

"Yes!" shouted Kino, waving her arms excitedly. "They made it!"

* * *

It wasn't long before they boarded the submarine and were met by the captain himself, as well as Yuri and a handful of other crewmen.

"Lt. Kino, Mr. Hayami." said Iga. "Welcome back aboard. Sorry to hear about your Grampus. But congratulations on finding those survivors. Meanwhile, our engineers will do the best they can to...Hmm! It looks like you've found Mr. Nonaka, too."

He saw Katsuma standing behind Hayami. Katsuma was shifting uneasily in place, his gills inhaling and exhaling.

"So, I take it your mission was...inconclusive?"

"You could say that...sir." said Katsuma.

Yuri was glaring at Katsuma. But his focus soon switched to the other humans in Hayami's group.

"And who the hell are _these_ people?" he demanded. "Are they...mercs? Hayami, did you bring mercenaries with you? we've allowed strangers aboard this boat in the past, but this is pushing it! It's already enough that we're allowing Chimerans, especially that nereid of yours, to board this vessel. We don't need a bunch of hired guns, too!"

"It's fine; some of us don't really like being crammed onto a claustrophobic hunk of junk, anyway." said Pete.

Yuri groaned angrily a little.

"Don't mind us, dude!" said Luke, raising his hands up to calm everyone down. "We're just here 'til we can find a gnarly enough place to settle down. Dig?"

"It's true, Yuri." said Kino. "They've come all the way from Miami, Florida. I promised them that we could find them a new home in exchange for their help. We wouldn't have found Mr. Nonaka or saved the Musuca survivors without them."

"So they're refugees _and_ mercenaries?" asked Yuri. "Oh, that's just great. We've had enough problems with both in Jamaica."

"That's enough, Yuri." said Iga. "If they're good enough for Hayami and Kino, then they can't be too bad."

Then he turned to address Hayami and Kino.

"But we're counting on you two to make sure that these men behave themselves while they are on Blue-6. And that includes the Musuca survivors, as well."

"Aye, aye." said Kino.

"And Mr. Nonaka, I'll have to temporarily confine you to quarters." said Iga. "The circumstances behind your disappearance are questionable, and we need to know everything you do."

"Duly noted, sir." said Katsuma.

"One of the men is very badly injured, captain." said Kino, pointing to Cyrus, who had been carried onto the sub by Rockefeller and Alex. "Permission to have someone bring him to sickbay?"

"Permission granted. Ensign, get a stretcher!"

"Aye, sir!" said one of the sailors, who rushed off to the sickbay.

"As for the rest of you, welcome aboard Blue Submarine No. 6!"

* * *

The combined efforts of Blue-6's crew, the Musuca survivors, and the members of the Miami team were able to bring Levina's Kumo, Kino's mini-Grampus, the remains of Hayami's mini-Grampus, and the supplies from the King Stallion aboard Blue-6. The team brought aboard all of the firearms (including Campbell's sniper rifle and the Mambi AMR, which he had left there), food, water, uniforms (including the ones that were once worn by Walsh, Riggs, and Campbell), and assorted paraphernalia they brought with them throughout their journey, leaving the helicopter empty and abandoned. Rockefeller tearfully hugged the nose of the aircraft before he walked away from it one final time.

As the submarine finally left, Hayami stood atop the tailfin, smoking a cigarette. Accompanying him was Kino.

"Do you ever run out of those things?" asked Kino.

"I don't know." said Hayami. "Let's hope we never find out."

"It's amazing how you can smoke all that stuff without it killing you." Kino muttered, before speaking up: "Well, Mr. Nonaka and Mutio are both safely aboard Blue-6, and you get to chill with them all you want. Are you happy now?"

"Am I ever happy?"

Kino shook her head.

"Now we just have to worry about that thing up in the sky." said Hayami. "And Verg, wherever he is."

He shuddered. He could still remember that day back in Antarctica. When Verg, in retaliation for Zorndyke's death, had beaten Hayami to a bloody pulp amid the crowd of hybrids in mourning. He made almost no effort to fight back, because he knew the message Zorndyke wanted him to deliver was more important: The only way to stop the war with his creatures was to not fight and learn to work together. He could only hope his words were eventually able to reach Verg.

As the shore was nearly out of sight, Hayami barely made out movement on the ground. A small dark, stooping figure emerged from the snowy mist, crawling towards the water. For a fleeting second, he thought it was just an animal, like a horseshoe crab or a stray dog. But given their past luck, he began to have his doubts. He would have taken more time to examine it, had he and Kino not been called back down the hatch so that the sub could dive underwater. So Hayami threw the cigarette away and thought nothing more of the unusual shape.


	20. Aboard Blue-6, Part 1

Blue-6 descended into the depths of the Atlantic. Once Hayami and Kino made it down the hatch, they were immediately greeted by some familiar faces: fellow Grampus pilots Estella Bloom and Jonald Zagalo. Jonald was a young Argentinian man with a scar across his face. Estella was a nineteen-year-old blonde Swede with dark blue eyes, a mole underneath the left one.

"Hayami! Kino!" Jonald waved at them. "We had a feeling we'd meet again!"

Hayami sighed and shut his eyes.

"How's it going, Jonald?" he asked, with a monotone voice.

"We just heard from Rin and Andrei that you got that new Grampus wrecked during your mission. We wanted to hear if it was true or not."

"And to make sure that you weren't seriously hurt." reminded Estella, who was tapping her foot. "Right, Jonald?"

"Right, Estella." Jonald chuckled sheepishly.

"Anyway, Kino." said Estella. "From what we heard, you did a good job out there. But now you owe me."

"Owe her what?" asked Jonald.

"I told her that I could get my mission done without getting a scratch on the Grampus." said Kino, smiling weakly. "Now I have to share my rations with her for the rest of the month. And I'm _starving_! I haven't eaten anything since we arrived in Canada..."

She sighed.

"Oh, well. Gotta check on the new recruits. C'mon."

Kino and Hayami walked past Estella and Jonald, who looked at each other in confusion.

"New recruits?" they asked each other in unison.

* * *

In the sickbay, Cyrus was laying on a bed and was being watched over by Mutio, as well as Luke, Alex, and the submarine's physician, Dr. Foxcourt. Foxcourt was an Australian man with short black hair and pale skin. Mutio put her hand around Cyrus' wrist to check his pulse. Then she looked up at Foxcourt, concerned.

"Will you be able to help him?" asked Luke.

"Don't ya worry, mate." he told them. "He's perfectly safe in this here room. Now leave the poor bloke to me. I need to make sure he's got no internal injuries."

"Okay, dude." said Luke. "We just wanted to make sure..."

"Ah..bugger off, the lot of you." Dr. Foxcourt swatted his hand at them dismissively. "He'll be fine. I've served on this boat for five years. Haven't had a single life lost with me aboard."

"Awesome, bro." Luke nodded. "Catch you later."

He and Alex turned to leave.

"Hey, Mutio!" he gestured to him. "Let the doc check Cyrus, okay?"

Mutio nodded, and followed Luke and Alex outside.

Alex muttered something in Spanish as he looked around at the metal, paneled walls. Then at the crewmen they passed, who gave them all strange looks. Though most of them seemed to be directed at Mutio.

"What are you saying, man?" asked Luke.

"I'm saying, _gringo_ , this place makes me uncomfortable." said Alex. "I feel like we shouldn't get used to being here."

"Why not, bro?" asked Luke. "Blue Fleet may be our best chance at finding a new home. They'll help us!"

He sighed.

"I just wish Hank could've gotten out with us. He always wanted to find somewhere else to live, away from all that crap in Miami."

Mutio looked at the crewmen, who were judging her with their eyes. It had gone to the point where she didn't mind it as much, since she had been glared at countless times in the past few days alone; the people of Nogadsville, the crews of the _Aronnax_ and _Thunderball_ , the soldiers at Mount Weather, and even the Miami team, including the two men that she was following this very moment, had all looked as though she had personally wronged them at some point or another (and she probably did, as far as she knew). But thankfully, Luke had softened up significantly since the day she met him, and she no longer felt frightened by Alex. Most of the group, except for Pete and Trey, had grown to like her more and more.

Hayami and Kino were now walking towards them from the other end of the corridor.

"How is he?" Hayami asked.

"Cyrus is being checked on right now." said Alex. "He's one tough _hombre_. I'm sure he will be fine."

"So how's our sleeping arrangements coming along, Kino?" asked Luke.

"We haven't checked yet." said Kino. "But I might be able to convince the captain to give you and your group all bunks in the crew's quarters."

"So we're, like, going to be sleeping in the same room with a bunch of sailors? Loud, snoring sailors?"

"It looks like it." said Kino. "Normally, the only people allowed their own private quarters are the captain, Grampus pilots, and other important personnel. Hayami and I are Grampus pilots, so..."

"Do you two share a room?" asked Luke, tilting his head and twisting his face into a silly grimace. "Huh? Huh?"

Kino blushed.

"Uh...no." she said. "I sleep in the room across from his. Hayami prefers to...sleep by himself."

"And what about Katsuma and the Musuca survivors?"

"Katsuma has his own quarters." said Hayami. "They're probably going to have the Chimerans placed in a water tank."

"And what about Mutio?" asked Alex.

Mutio looked at Hayami, wide-eyed. Hayami looked back at her.

* * *

Campbell and the others arrived in Halifax Harbor, and looked on at the decimated, lifeless city beyond. The marines gathered everyone together. The squad leader cleared his throat and briefed the townspeople.

"Attention. I am Sgt. Bryan Patel, and me and my men will be taking you inland." he told everyone. "We're going to be traveling through this city as cautious and yet as quickly as possible. This city has been officially declared uninhabitable by our government, so we can't afford to stay here any longer than necessary. I want everyone in a layered formation. Everyone-military _or_ civilian-that's armed will form a perimeter around everyone that isn't armed. To avoid possible infection from foreign diseases, we will be passing out protective masks and gloves."

The marines all put on gas masks and handed out spares to the civilians. Once everyone had a gas mask and pair of gloves to themselves, they proceeded towards the city, walking along platforms that were once rooftops, connected by a series of makeshift bridges and walkways similar to the ones in Miami. After a while, they came towards one of the many dilapidated skyscrapers, entering it via a rickety wooden ramp. As they passed down the hallway, they looked out the cracked windows to the city beyond, and the harbor they left behind.

"Almost a hundred and forty years ago..." said Sgt. Patel, gazing at the harbor. "Two ships, one French and one Norwegian, collided with each other out there in the Narrows. The nearly three kilotons of TNT the French vessel carried caused the largest man-made explosion before the creation of the atomic bomb. Thousands killed, even more injured. My great-great grandfather lost both of his legs that day. God, if those people could've lived to see all of this..."

Even though Patel's mask slightly distorted his voice, everyone was able to hear him. As Campbell listened to his story, he was looking out at the flooded streets below. For a brief moment, he began to relive old memories he had. For that brief period of time, Halifax was back to normal. The buildings were well-maintained and occupied, people were walking the streets, and automobiles were speeding by along the roads. One of those automobiles was a school bus, transporting a class of twenty-seven, as well as their teacher and some chaperones. One of the students in that bus was Rick Campbell's nine-year-old self. They were on a field trip to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, on the waterfront. Little Ricky seemed to be the only student there that wasn't interested in going. He would've liked to stay home and play video games, but he needed the extra credit to pass History class. And there was that annoying punk Roy Mathis laughing and kicking Rick's seat. He wanted to go back there and punch his lights out. The adult Rick up above blinked. Then just like that, it was all gone; it was the present day again.

"You okay, boy?" asked Knox. "You were looking...spaced out."

"Yeah, I'm fine." nodded Campbell. "Just remembering something, that's all."

* * *

Later that night, the Chimerans were indeed brought to a secluded, open chamber with a water tank in the middle. While Giorgia and Levina were sleeping at the bottom of the tank, Amonyushuu was sitting in a chair overlooking the tank, reciting another poem from the Manyoshu. Security Officer Sidra Deidson, who had been assigned to supervise her and the other Musuca survivors, was standing next to her.

"O _n Mikasa, a peak of Mount Kasuga,_  
 _Clouds hover every morning,_  
 _Kao-birds are for ever crying._  
 _Like the clouds my heart is wavering;_  
 _And like the endless calling of the birds,_  
 _I long for love requited;_  
 _Every moment of the day,_  
 _Every moment of the night,_  
 _Standing or sitting,_  
 _I pine with thoughts of love_  
 _For the girl who will not heed me_."

"Which one's that now?" he asked her.

" _Visiting Kasuga Field_ , I think, by Yamabe Akahito." said Amonyushuu. "It was the last thing I memorized before I left Antarctica."

"You did a pretty good job rememberin' all that." said Deidson. "I never thought I'd meet someone else that was into poetry as much as me, much less Chimeran. Are there any other poems y'all know? How about from Shakespeare's sonnets? Beowulf?"

"No, sorry." said Amonyushuu.

"Aw, you should read them sometime." said Deidson. "It's some good stuff. May not be that Japanese stuff that Zorndyke liked, but they're what every aspirin' poet should know 'bout. Here, check this out."

He took out a battered paperback book, titled _The Gulf and Other Poems_ , by Derek Walcott.

"Lotta good poems in there." said Deidson. "My daddy used to read this to me all the time when I was little. My favorite book ever."

She opened the book, and perused the pages.

"Hmm...interesting." said Amonyushuu. "Maybe I could read them in detail sometime. Right now, I feel tired. Thank you for showing it to me."

She handed the book back.

"Yeah..." said Deidson. "Well, sleep tight. Bet y'all had a long day."

Amonyushuu undid the band on her head and untied her braids, so that her long curly brown hair was free to fall down along her back. She stretched her thin arms and yawned, revealing two tiny fangs in her opened mouth. Then she blinked.

"Mr. Deidson, do you know where Mutio is?"

"She'll be down in a few." said Deidson. "She's doing something with Hayami."

* * *

Hayami was in his room, shirtless and sitting on his bed for the first time in so many days. But he wasn't alone, as Mutio was with him. She was behind Hayami, leaning against him and massaging his shoulders with her hands.

"That feels good." Hayami sighed. "Thanks, Mutio. Where did you learn to do that, anyway?"

Mutio tilted her head, confused.

"Ah, never mind." said Hayami. "Well, this is...pretty much my home. Hope you don't mind the mess."

Mutio looked around the room. There was a lot of junk on the floor: Crushed soda cans, empty cigarette cases, old magazines, and other things. On the wall was a poster of a bikini-clad, buxom woman with long, flowing blonde hair and holding a beach ball aloft in her hands. Below the poster was an open cabinet containing a number of jewel cases containing music CDs and a portable radio. Overall, the room made Mutio think of Cyrus' hotel room back in Miami, but much smaller and made of metal. She could also hear the clanking of metal from above. She guessed that it was from the footsteps of people on the upper deck. There were also noises coming from the walls, similar to the kind she heard when she was aboard the _Coolidge_. But it wasn't as loud as they were there, and that gave her comfort.

She looked at Hayami's arm. She saw the faintest hints of scar tissue in the form of a small ring of bite marks near the wrist. It was the same spot where she bit him that day in Tokyo. The day they first met face-to-face with each other. She never would've thought that the man that destroyed her Grampus would then try to save her life. It puzzled her for so long, and she had no idea why he would choose to save her, even when he had no problem destroying the other Kumos with their pilots still inside.

It was then that she noticed more scar tissue on his other arm, from much larger bite marks that encircled the area between the wirst and the elbow. It didn't take long for her to figure out that the marks matched Verg's teeth. He must have bitten Hayami that day, when Zorndyke died. Mutio herself was no stranger to Verg's cruelty, and cringed a little at the memory of what happened. Though she had forgiven Verg for what he had done to her and sympathized with his sorrow over the loss of their creator, she suddenly felt a jolt of anger at what Verg did to Hayami. But that jolt came and left in a matter of seconds. Since she was a nereid, she had been bred to suppress such emotions when they weren't necessary, and Verg was nowhere near either of them at the moment.

 _At the moment_. That would have to change eventually.

"Mutio, are you okay?" asked Hayami.

Mutio raised her arms, yawned a little, and slowly let her eyelids drop over her pupils.

"Tired already?" Hayami asked. "Okay, let's go down to the others."

Mutio frowned.

"Well, don't you wanna be with your own kind?"

Mutio shook her head. She sat down beside Hayami, and nuzzled against him. He gently pushed her away to make some space between them.

"I know, you wanna be with me." said Hayami. "But I'm tired, too. Look, it's really getting late, this bed's built for one, and there's not going to be a lot of water here for you."

Mutio tilted her head down and frowned harder.

"We can do something tomorrow, okay?" asked Hayami. "I promise you. But right now, we both need our sleep. Got it?"

Mutio reluctantly agreed with him. Hayami put his shirt back on, and led Mutio out into the corridor, where Kino was waiting for them. After the two led her down to the water tank, they came back up.

"How are you feeling?" asked Hayami.

"I feel good, though I'm still hungry." said Kino, grumbling. "Ugh! Why'd I have to make that stupid bet with Estella?"

"And what about Katsuma?"

"Captain Iga's still confined him to quarters." said Kino. "They're not letting anyone see him right now. Yuri's planning on interrogating him tomorrow."

Hayami closed his eyes and exhaled through his nostrils.

"Why am I not surprised?" said Hayami. "Good night, Kino."

"Good night, Hayami."

They both went into their quarters, and Hayami laid down on his bed. It was a little damp from Mutio sitting on it, but he was too exhausted to care. He quickly fell asleep.


	21. Aboard Blue-6, Part 2

The following morning, Hayami went down to the Chimerans' quarters. At the entrance, he met Deidson, who immediately allowed him to enter. The four Chimerans were out of the water tank having their breakfast. They had all been given fish sandwiches to eat. They all seemed to enjoy their food, which was probably a given since three of the four were at least part feline. Mutio was closest to the door, and when Hayami entered the room, she wasted no time in rushing over to him. The other three Chimeran women stopped eating and looked at her. Giorgia was glaring at Hayami.

"Hayami!" she said excitedly.

Hayami bent down to speak to her.

"Hi, Mutio." he said. "Sleep well?"

Mutio nodded happily.

"I told you that we'd do something together, right?"

Mutio nodded again.

Hayami stood up for a moment to think.

"So..." said Hayami. "I was thinking..."

Mutio blinked.

"Maybe it would be the right time to...introduce you to everyone." said Hayami, hesitantly. "I mean, everyone in the crew. They're all having breakfast right now, so now would be a good time."

Mutio's face wore a concerned expression. She seemed to think this was a bad idea, and Hayami could hardly blame her; he was flat-out inviting her to meet the very people she was at war with, and was completely at their mercy.

"Don't worry, Mutio." said Hayami. "I'm sure it'll be okay. I just want to take you up there for a little bit. I've already met your people, so it's only fair you meet mine. And if things go South, I'll bring you back down here and you'll never have to talk to anyone else again. Besides, there's a chance your American friends will be there, too."

This made Mutio smile a little more.

"Now how's about we get something to eat?"

Mutio nodded in agreement. The two left. Giorgia leered after them.

"What's the matter?" asked Amonyushuu.

Giorgia snorted.

"Your sister is happy where she is, Giorgia." said Amonyushuu. "The fact that they're together is just what papa would have wanted."

Giorgia ignored her, as she was fixated on Hayami. She could remember the day when she first saw him, when Hayami was on the floating wreckage of Blue Dome, surrounded by dozens of angry nereids. When she, from inside her fully-functional Kumo, was so close to impaling him with her blade. The only reason why she didn't kill him on the spot was because she was confused by how he made no attempt to dodge her attack. She didn't even care about her sister's protests at the time. And there was a high chance that if Red Spot hadn't appeared at that moment, she still would've killed him either way. He was the enemy back then, and as far as she was concerned, he was still her enemy now. The fact that the war was over did little to change her attitude. But she still respected papa's dying wishes, so she had made no attempt to lash out at him now, especially when she is in the custody of Hayami's people.

But if Verg ever decided to start another war with the humans, she would waste no time in killing Hayami and avenging their creator's demise. And there would be nothing Mutio or anyone else could do to stop that.

* * *

Kino, and several other members of Blue-6's crew were eating in the galley. The Miami team (minus Cyrus, who was still in sickbay) joined them. This would be their opportunity to for them to get acquainted with the crew. They still didn't know if Mutio and the other Chimerans would be joining them. Tsuji, who was the vessel's cook, and his assistants Tan Li Zhang and Kenji Hasimoto were preparing a large helping of potato pancakes, sausages, toast, scrambled eggs, and other typical breakfast food for more than seventy men and women, plus the new arrivals. Kino shared a table with Yamada, Huang, Trey, and Matt. Pete and Alex were sitting at a table with Alexander Cekeros and Freeda Verasko.

"Huh, so your name is Alex, too?" asked Cekeros.

Alex nodded.

"Ain't that the craziest coincidence...?" said Pete, sarcastically.

He took a bite into his sausage.

"Wow, that's pretty good." said Pete. "That cook guy knows what he's doing."

He quickly gobbled up the rest of it.

"I know, man." said Cekeros, as Pete ate the sausage. "Tsuji's food is the best I've ever tasted in my entire life. And if you think the breakfast is good, you should try tasting that sushi he makes for dinner."

Pete almost choked on his second sausage.

"Oh, please no." he groaned. "I've eaten nothing but fish for so long. I'm sick of that stuff."

"Suit yourself, buddy." said Cekeros, putting his hands behind his head. "Where are you from, anyway?"

"Miami, Florida." said Pete, who finished the second sausage and was now in the process of eating some egg.

"Miami, huh? I heard about that city. They say it was one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I disagree, though! Palermo was better in every way...before it got flooded, of course."

"Yeah, so both cities are destroyed, and that means there's no point in comparing them." said Pete. "So you're from...what, Italy?"

"Yep." said Cekeros. "Born and raised. And before you ask, no. I don't sit around eating pasta all day. Hell, I don't eat pasta. Period. I hate the stuff."

"Really." Pete raised an eyebrow. "So you don't eat lasagna?"

"Nope. That stuff's nasty. Makes me sick to my stomach before it even comes anywhere near my mouth."

"Ravioli?"

"Nope. I still never got over my mom making me eat it all the time when I was a kid."

"Spaghetti?"

"The only noodles I like are in Tsuji's ramen dishes."

"What about pizza?"

Cekeros shrugged.

"Ah...pizza's okay. But it depends on the toppings."

"Like..."

"Pepperoni and sausages? Good. Pineapple and olives? Bad."

"Same here, but replace sausages with bacon." said Pete. "And lots of cheese on it, too."

"What kind of cheese?" Cekeros bent forward.

"As many as you can have on one pizza." said Pete.

"And that's the right answer, pal." said Cekeros, offering his hand. "Put 'er there."

Pete and Cekeros shook hands, while Alex and Freeda were conversing to each other in Spanish.

" _Su amigo le gusta hablar de comida, ¿verdad?_ " asked Freeda.  
 **(Translation: "Your friend likes to talk about food, huh?")**

" _Le gusta hablar de cualquier cosa por la que pueda quejarse._ " replied Alex.  
 **("He likes to talk about anything he can complain about.")**

" _¿De que pais vienes? ¿Colombia? ¿Cuba?_ "  
 **("Which country do you come from? Colombia? Cuba?")**

" _Soy de Puerto Rico,_ " said Alex, grimly. " _pero me mudé a Florida antes de las inundaciones. i perdido todo de vuelta a casa._ "  
 **("I am from Puerto Rico," said Alex, grimly. "but I moved to Florida before the floods. I lost everything back home.")**

" _Perdón por escuchar eso._ "  
 **("Sorry to hear that.")**

Now that Cekeros and Pete were finished with their own conversation, they began looking at Freeda and Alex.

" _Pasé años viviendo entre estos gringos._ " said Alex. " _Este idiota gordo a mi lado en realidad piensa que yo era un traficante de drogas. ¿Puedes creerlo?_ "  
 **("I spent years living among these gringos." said Alex. "This fat idiot next to me actually thinks I was a drug dealer. Can you believe it?")**

Freeda burst out laughing.

"Hey, Freeda." said Cekeros. "What are you two talking about?"

"None of your business, Alexander." said Freeda. "Just keep talking to your new friend there."

Meanwhile, Kino and Huang were talking to each other.

"I'm so happy that you're back, Kino." said the young blonde girl. "I've been so worried about you."

"I felt the same about you, Huang." said Kino. "Has Juju been giving you a hard time at all?"

"Juju was transferred to Blue-9 before we came up here." said Yamada. "They needed him for his psychic abilities."

"So that leaves us with an empty seat for a Grampus, right?" said Kino.

"It seems so, Kino." said Yamada. "Maybe Katsuma could take his place. I mean, he was a Grampus pilot before he got...changed."

The door opened, and Hayami and Mutio entered the room. The latter was immediately met by scolding glares and suspicious eye movements. Hayami cleared his throat.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Mutio." he said. "She helped bring the war to the end. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for her."

Mutio looked around at everyone. The response she got was lukewarm at best; some of the crew nodded in approval, but others grumbled and said unsavory things under their breath. Ignoring this, Hayami led Mutio to a table. As soon as Mutio seated herself next to Hayami, the crewmen that were sitting there scooted over and made no attempt to acknowledge her existence, and a couple even picked up their plates and then moved to another table. Mutio frowned.

Rockefeller and Luke took the vacated seats.

"Hey, don't mind them." Rockefeller told Hayami and Mutio. "We know Mutio doesn't mean any harm."

"But don't worry; I'd say there's hope they'll warm up to her eventually." said Luke. "I know I did. You just gotta keep your distance from them until the right time, and then they'll be totally fawning over her. Really, I had no idea that Mutio could operate one of those lobster-things like she did back in Canada. That's badass!"

Luke patted Mutio on the shoulder. In turn, Mutio smiled at him and her cheeks turned red.

"Well, at least someone around here has some sense." said Hayami. "Thanks, guys."

"No problem, Hayami-dude." Luke smiled. "So what's on the agenda today, man?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." said Hayami.

He looked over at Pete, who was noisily stuffing his face with potato pancakes.

"Maybe you guys should hit the gym. I think you could use a real workout. I know that fat loudmouth over there could spend a few minutes on the treadmill."

"Damn right he can." said Rockefeller. "Maybe you should do it too, though. Do some working out, I mean."

Hayami raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, maybe Mutio could join you." said Luke, half-chuckling. "You know, be your gym partner."

Mutio looked at him, then at Hayami. Her smile grew even wider, and she started nuzzling against Hayami. She didn't even seem to care that this behavior was making even more people stare at her.

"Uh...Mutio." whispered Hayami. "Would you please let go?"

But Mutio wouldn't obey, so Hayami just sighed and shook his head. Rockefeller and Luke looked on in delight.

"Well, this is an interesting development." commented Rockefeller.

* * *

In a small, dark room lit only by a small ceiling fan, Iga and Yuri were both interrogating Katsuma. Katsuma was sitting in a chair, while Iga and Yuri stood before him, with their arms crossed.

"Tell me again, Katsuma." said Yuri. "What happened out there? Why did it take so long for you to return?"

"I don't remember, Yuri." said Katsuma. "I...I just don't."

"Did you come in contact with Zorndyke's creatures prior to meeting Mutio and those mercenaries?"

Katsuma said nothing.

"Katsuma, this is important." said Yuri. "This was an important mission, and we need to know whatever you know."

"Yes." said Katsuma. "First, I came across some of them in an underwater cave someplace near the Strait of Magellan..."

"Did you try defecting over to them?" asked Iga.

"No, sir." Katsuma rasped. "I did try talking to them, though. But none of them wanted anything to do with me. They left shortly after I arrived, and they threatened to kill me if I tried following them. But I did, anyway. I came across other hybrids, and none of them were any better."

"Interesting." said Iga. "From what I recall, they listened to you during the war down in Antarctica. Hayami and Kino told us how you stopped Zorndyke's creatures from attacking them on the way to his village."

"Verg probably heard about what happened." said Katsuma. "He probably wouldn't want anyone that contributed to his papa's death to be anywhere near his people. That's not getting into the fact that after I did that, I also went back to the Phantom Ship to free Mutio. They were holding her prisoner aboard the ship, and her sisters all put up a hell of a fight."

"Mutio?" asked Yuri.

"The nereid." said Katsuma. "The one that Hayami saved in Tokyo. She got into a lot of trouble with her own kind, but I was able to get her off the ship before your sub crippled it with those torpedoes. And it's a good thing I did, too. If I wasn't there, Mutio would probably be dead and you'd have to give a huge apology to Hayami."

"Well..." said Iga, smiling a little. "Good job, Katsuma. We owe you one, then."

"What Hayami thinks is irrelevant, Katsuma." said Yuri. "All three of us know that the mission came first, not whether Hayami's fish-lady managed to make it out."

"Whether she made it out was more important than you'd ever believe, Yuri." said Iga. "Hayami's 'fish-lady' was the whole reason why we knew that Zorndyke anticipated the use of nuclear arms, and that Hayami was able to reach Zorndyke and get him to dismantle the pole shift device. If it weren't for her, we would probably all be dead. And it all would've happened because our superiors forced us to resort to the nuclear option. It's not like we wanted to blow everything up."

"Maybe so, but..." Yuri began, before changing his mind. "Never mind. Katsuma, is there anything else you can tell us?"

"Nothing that I can remember off the top of my head." said Katsuma.

"Are you sure, Katsuma?"

"Positive."

"Then I guess you're free to go...for now." said Yuri, who added with a smile: "And welcome back."


	22. Aboard Blue-6, Part 3

"Cyrus, help!" screamed a woman's voice. "Please! I...I can't swim!"

"Maria, take my hand!" Cyrus urgently answered back.

"I can't reach, and the tide's...too...strong! Oh my god!"

There was a loud explosion, and Maria let out a bloodcurdling scream that was quickly and quite literally drowned out by the sound of an oncoming tide of water.

* * *

Cyrus stirred violently in his sleep, muttering unintelligible words. He nearly rolling off the bed, but a pair of hands restrained him.

"Easy now, mate." said a calm voice. "You've got to relax yourself. You have had quite a trip."

Cyrus opened his eyes, and growled furiously. He looked around, and realized he wasn't outside anymore. He was in a long, narrow room with metal walls. There was the sound of metallic clanging and clattering noises both above and below him. A radio nearby was playing big band music. He quickly calmed down. He noticed that a man was standing beside him, wearing a stethoscope around his neck.

"Where am I?" he asked him.

"You're aboard Blue-6, in sickbay." said the doctor. "I'm Dr. Howard Foxcourt, the sub's chief physician. You were very badly hurt. You're fortunate that your wounds weren't any worse; one of those shrapnel fragments damn near punctured your lung."

"Are the pieces out now?" asked Cyrus.

"Aye." said the doctor. "It was tricky, but nothing the good doctor can't make right."

Cyrus tried to sit back up, but he felt a jolt of pain in his chest and laid himself back down.

"Take it easy there." he said. "You're still recovering. You must stay in that bed and rest. And since you have stitches all over your chest, you probably should let your body heal."

"But I need to check on the others..."

"The rest of your group is safely aboard the sub." said Dr. Foxcourt. "They had a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing too serious. They've already found beds for all of them."

Cyrus sighed in relief, and smiled.

"Good." said Cyrus, before continuing in thought: "Everyone is safe. I just hope Campbell makes it back home to his mom. That kid deserves it after all he went through."

* * *

Amonyushuu was sitting in her chair, writing into a book with a mechanical pencil when Matt entered the Chimerans' quarters. Giorgia and Levina were resting in the water tank.

"Hi." Matt said, walking up to her with his hand waving.

"Hello, Matt." said Amonyushuu. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine." said Matt.

He looked down at Amonyushuu's legs, and noticed that she was now wearing boots.

"Nice boots." he said, pointing at her footwear.

"Thanks." said Amonyushuu. "Deidson gave them to me while you were all having breakfast. He told me I might need them while we're on the submarine. He said there would be a lot of hard and sharp objects on Blue-6 that could hurt my feet. And he showed me how to tie the laces."

"That's cool." Matt nodded. "Just to warn ya...laces come loose real easy. That's why I like velcro better. Not because I don't know how to tie laces, I just don't wanna have to."

"Thank you for telling me, Matt. I will be careful with tying them from now on."

"How does it feel wearing them, though?"

"They're a little tight, but I'm sure I'll get used to them. I never wore anything on my feet before except sandals."

"So whatcha doin' now?"

"I'm writing in my journal. Mr. Deidson gave it to me along with the boots."

"Why are you doing that?" asked Matt.

"I have a lot of things on my mind." said Amonyushuu. "This journal allows me to record my thoughts on paper."

"Why? Are you planning on sharing it with someone?" asked Matt.

"Actually, Matt." Amonyushuu shook her head. "It's a private journal."

"Then why bother?" asked Matt. "I never got that with journals or diaries, and why folks like to write in those things. If you plan on keepin' that stuff to yourself and don't want anyone messin' around with it, why not just keep it in your head? Unless you suffer from memory loss or somethin', you shouldn't have a problem remembering...whatever it is you're putting in that book. By writin' that stuff down, you're practically beggin' for someone to take that diary or journal or whatever it is and find out all your deepest, darkest secrets."

"Are the people here really that untrustworthy?" asked Amonyushuu.

"Eh...not all of them." said Matt, awkwardly. "I mean, not that I'd know. There's a lot of douchebags in the world, but I promise I ain't one of 'em."

"Well, that's good."

Matt walked up to Amonyushuu, who closed her book just before Matt could lay eyes on it.

"If you must know, Matt," Amonyushuu said, her eyes and ears in an alert position. "I write in my journal because it's what papa would have done. He was a scientist. He wrote notes on everything he experienced throughout his life, especially when it involved his research, or me, or his other work. I'm following his example by writing down my own experiences aboard this sub so that I can share them with Brother Verg when we find him. You can't expect me to tell him everything at once, can you?"

"Guess not." said Matt.

"So that's why I'm writing in this journal." said Amonyushuu. "Unless you would prefer that I write about how nosy the people here can be, would you care to let me finish this one page in privacy? Please?"

"Sure, sure." Matt chuckled nervously. "Just cool it, okay?"

He turned around, and Amonyushuu finished writing on the current page.

"Now, is there something you wanted from me?" she asked, closing the book again.

Matt turned around again, and cleared his throat.

"So...uh." Matt hesitated. "I was wondering if you..."

Amonyushuu blinked.

"Hmm?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to come work out with me?" asked Matt. "I'm gonna be hitting the gym in a little bit."

"I could come up and watch." said Amonyushuu. "Just to see how humans do it."

"Then let's get up there."

Matt turned to face the door, and saw Trey and Deidson both standing there waiting for them. When they approached the door, Amonyushuu spoke to Deidson, while Trey and Matt wordlessly stared at each other.

"Mr. Deidson, I would like to request permission to leave the quarters." said Amonyushuu, formally.

"Where will you be going?" asked Deidson.

"To watch them exercise." said Amonyushuu. "Then I will come back down immediately."

"Permission granted." said Deidson, turning to Trey and Matt. "Now treat her right, you two. She's under Blue Fleet's protection, so don't y'all think about doing anythin' to hurt her."

* * *

Once everyone was in the gym, they all began exercising on the machines. There was a radio with a CD player at one end of the room. Luke inserted a disc into the player, and "Walking Away" by Information Society started emitting from the speakers. At that moment, Jonald and Estella walked in. They had agreed to help train the Miami team for today's session.

Mutio was doing pull-ups, while Hayami watched. She struggled lifting herself up over the bars.

"C'mon, Mutio." said Hayami. "You can do it."

Mutio groaned and hissed as she pulled herself up. But she was still able to do twenty pull-ups before letting go of the bars and dropping down to the floor. When she landed, she was very thirsty and gasping. Hayami quickly gave her a water bottle, which she guzzled down in seconds.

"Good work, Mutio." said Hayami. "I think I'll go next."

Trey and Matt did sit-ups and push-ups, respectively. Luke started flexing a pair of dumbbells in rhythm to the beats of the song. Pete was running on a treadmill, panting heavily. Jonald was standing at the opposite end of the room with Rockefeller and Alex. All the while, Amonyushuu was sitting on a bench next to the radio, writing in her journal.

"I'm gonna teach you two some hand-to-hand combat moves I picked up from my father." said Jonald. "He was a colonel in the Argentine Army, and he once pummeled an entire platoon of enemy soldiers with just his bare hands."

"Jonald, you told me that happened _after_ they already surrendered." said Estella, who was standing nearby. "And they were all shackled, so they didn't have a chance to fight back."

"Yeah, well...that's not the point." said Jonald, sheepishly. "Okay, I'll admit my dad wasn't exactly the nicest guy, but he did get the job done in the end. And these moves are a hundred percent legit. So who's up first?"

Rockefeller waved his hand, and stepped forward. He raised his fists in a defensive stance.

"Hit me." said Jonald.

Rockefeller lunged towards Jonald, who grabbed his fist, and forced it in place so that Rockefeller hit it, face first. Then he grabbed Rockefeller by the arm, punched him twice in the chest, twisted him around, and forced him to his knees. Then he let him stand back up. Rockefeller started rubbing his arm.

"Okay, now do the same to me."

Jonald raised his fists, and lunged forward. Rockefeller repeated the exact sequence.

"Good work." groaned Jonald.

Amonyushuu looked at Hayami and Mutio, and examined their behavior closely. Amonyushuu, who was surprised that Mutio was exercising with these humans, was jotting down notes in her journal about her behavior.

"Mutio, what do you wanna do next?" Hayami asked.

Mutio looked at a nearby pommel horse, which Luke was standing on, making various poses like one would make on a surfboard. She excitedly pointed at that.

"Okay, but you probably might not want to do what he's doing." said Hayami.

Luke lost his balance and tumbled to the floor with a bang. This sight caused everyone to stop everything they were doing and look at him. Thankfully, Luke had landed on a mat or he would have seriously hurt himself.

"I'm okay, guys." said Luke, giving the onlookers a thumbs-up. "Just a little wipeout. Happens all the time."

"...and that's why." Hayami finished telling Mutio.

But Mutio didn't seem to care. She crept up to the pommel horse, and began repeatedly vaulting over it, laughing maniacally as she did so. This disturbed Hayami; he had never seen her this emotive before.

"Mutio, maybe you should take a break." said Hayami. "I think you're having a little too much fun with that..."

Then she hit her head on the floor, and rolled over on the ground.

"Mutio!" Hayami yelled, perhaps a little louder than necessary.

He ran over to check on Mutio, who was rubbing her head where she landed.

"Are you okay?"

Mutio stopped rubbing her head, nodded, and gave him a thumbs-up, just like Luke did. Though Hayami was initially puzzled by the fact that she thought of giving him that gesture, he nevertheless gave her a thumbs-up in response. Then he knelt down to check her injury. Thankfully, there was no bleeding, but there was a tiny bump underneath her hair.

"I think maybe we should take a break."

Amonyushuu finished the page she was on, and began writing another when Mutio and Hayami went over to sit down next to her.

"Mutio, are you hurt?" she asked, concerned.

Mutio nodded with an impish smile.

"Exercising looks dangerous." said Amonyushuu.

"Nah, it's only dangerous when you're not careful." said Rockefeller, who had finished with Jonald.

Estella was now sparring with Alex. She punched him in the gut, and body slammed him onto the floor.

" _Dios mio_!" Alex grunted, as he got back up.

"Case in point!" Rockefeller said, before turning to take over for Alex. "My turn, Blondie."

"So they beat each other up, and that somehow causes them to learn different ways to fight?" asked Amonyushuu.

"Pretty much." said Hayami. "Jonald and Estella can be real hardasses in hand-to-hand combat. That's nothing compared to how they are as Grampus pilots. Sometimes, they could give even me a run for my money."

He sighed. Amonyushuu stared at Hayami.

"Mr. Hayami?" she asked him.

"Yeah?"

"You do remember me, right?"

Hayami turned to look at her.

"Yes..." said Hayami. "I think I do. You...were the one in Antarctica. The first hybrid we met on the way to Zorndyke's village."

"Yes, that was me." said Amonyushuu. "I just want you to know this. I don't blame you for killing my papa."

Hayami stood up and looked at her.

"Papa saw it coming so long ago." she said. "And I knew it as well. As soon as I saw you and Ms. Kino, I knew that you were going to kill him."

Mutio turned her head to face her fellow hybrid.

"It was inevitable, he would tell me." she continued. "That his heart was broken from all he had lost, from all he caused. Brother Verg never knew anything about it. Papa knew that nothing would persuade him to allow his death to happen."

She closed her eyes, inhaled, and exhaled. Mutio placed on a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

All the while, Trey and Matt had been listening in on her.

* * *

After the exercising was finished at three o'clock in the afternoon, the team all proceeded to explore the ship, but only the areas that weren't off-limits to civilians. Trey stopped Matt in the corridor, and gestured for him to enter an empty room. He shut the door behind them and locked it so that nobody outside would peek into the room or overhear them.

"Matt, we gotta talk." said Trey.

"What's wrong?" asked Matt.

"It's that cat-girl." said Trey.

"Yeah, and what about it?" asked Matt, raising an eyebrow.

Trey bent closer, so that his face was up close to Matt's.

"I know you've been talking to her. And I don't want you getting friendly with her. At all."

"Why not?" asked Matt. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's Zorndyke's...daughter." said Trey. "That makes her Verg's sister, too."

"But she ain't like Verg at all." said Matt. "She's a nerd and her name's kinda stupid, but she ain't that bad when ya get to know her. And I know that 'cause I actually talk to her. I don't go pointin' guns or talkin' smack or any of that stuff. Besides, she's like the only person my age that I've talked to in...forever.

"She ain't a person, she's a talking animal." said Trey.

"Whatever." said Matt. "That ain't the point. She's a teenager, and I'm a teenager. I spent the last two or three years surrounded by grown-ups."

"That's because her 'papa' drowned everyone else from your school and..."

"Oh, here we go with that again." Matt threw up his arms in annoyance. "The whole 'Zorndyke killed everyone' crap. Look, bro. I miss dad, too. I miss all my friends from school. But that don't mean I gotta be a goddamn wreck about it all the time. I got over dad's death months ago. Why couldn't you?"

"Because dad was everything to me." said Trey. "He was a good guy. Always looked out for us since mom left."

"Yeah, _after_ mom left." said Matt. "He didn't care about me before then. That's why I always liked mom more. Sure, she was pretty damn hostile sometimes. But she never meant to be that way; She just had problems, that's all. She didn't know how to deal with 'em. You act like dad was the best guy in the world, and he could do no wrong. But guess what, big brother. He had problems, too. You just didn't see them. He was always workin' late, obsessed with his job, never there for me. Always for you. _Mom_ was there for me, but then she left."

"I was there for you."

"You were only there for me after dad died. And dad was only there for me after mom left. And ever since Mutio showed up, you've been spending all day and night broodin' about her, or Verg, or Zorndyke, and not even talking to me. Never asked me how I felt, or what I'd like to do. When the hell was the last time we even had a conversation that was this long? Mutio's had more conversations with me lately, and she don't even talk!"

Trey stood straight up, and bowed his head.

"Matt, I had no idea ya felt that way..." said Trey, his head shaking uneasily.

"Of course ya didn't." sniffled Matt, turning to the door. "God, I miss mom. I...I think I need to be alone right now."

He walked outside, trying to fight back the urge to cry. Trey, distressed, punched the wall, which made a loud clang. This hurt his hand, but he didn't care. He just backed up against the opposite wall, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. His eyes also began to water. Suddenly, there was an even louder clang, and the whole room began to shake. Trey lost his balance, and hit the metal floor hard on his side.

"What... _ow_...the hell was that?!" he yelled.

Then it happened again. This time, the klaxon blared in response, and there were sounds of raised voices and hurried movement outside.

"All hands, report to battle stations!" Captain Iga's voice was heard on the loudspeakers. "We are under attack! Repeat, we are under attack!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Blue Submarine No. 6: The Atlantic War_ is now one year old. I hope everyone reading this story so far has enjoyed it. I promise that there will be even more exciting stuff on the way.


	23. Escape From Halifax, Part 1

Brigadier-General Wells was in his office, cleaning his glasses. Sitting opposite from him was Dr. Cameron, who had his head in his hands.

"Dr. Cameron, we have finished interrogating the Riptides." said Wells, once he finished wiping the lenses. "Here are documents listing and/or related to everything they have told us."

He laid down the glasses, and handed a folder that was thick with several important papers to the doctor, who quickly accepted it.

"It is of vital importance that this intel be delivered to the Canadian government, posthaste." said Wells. "The threat the airship poses is even greater than we could have anticipated. I will have a helicopter fly you to Ottawa as soon as we are ready. I will send Monroe and a squad of Rangers with you as an escort until you reach the capital. After that, you're on your own."

"But why must _I_ go?" asked Dr. Cameron, uneasily. "You know that I don't exactly see eye-to-eye with my government. That's why I left Project Blue in the first place."

"Because some burned bridges need to be crossed." said Wells. "The information we must give them will be very hard for them to accept, especially from us. They will be able to take it in if a respected person from their nation is the one that delivers the message. Besides, I will need you to rendezvous with Blue-6 once you are done in Canada."

"Oh, good." muttered Dr. Cameron. "Them, too? Very well, sir. I won't enjoy this, but if it's for the good of the world, then it will be done. Besides, much has changed since I left. Hopefully, for the better."

"Dismissed." said Wells.

Dr. Cameron left the room, holding the folder in his hands. Once the door was closed, the phone rang. Wells picked it up, and answered:

"Hello?"

"This is Colonel O'Hara, calling in from Kansas City."

After the global flood consumed most of the major cities of the Eastern Seaboard, including Washington D.C., the seat of the government had passed to Kansas City. It was a fine city for the job, though it was far more chaotic and less secure than Washington. Especially since the war ended.

"Colonel, how do you do?" asked Wells. "How is our president?"

"He's doing well for his age, sir." replied O'Hara. "But I'm afraid that we have trouble: he's passed out a law that may compromise us all."

"And what law is that, colonel?"

There was a crackling on the phone, indicating that O'Hara was taking a deep breath. Then came a heavy sigh.

"The president is ordering the military to free any and all Chimeran prisoners of war from our installations and let them go back to live with their kind."

Wells exhaled through his nostrils. He knew this day would finally come, but he hoped it wouldn't have to be until this trouble was finally over.

"Is that so?" he asked.

"I'm afraid it is." said O'Hara. "It seems that there was some kind of scandal. Vital information was leaked, and now the president is facing impeachment."

"But if we were to let them go, colonel...do you have any idea what our people have done to the ones we've captured? If they were to be set free, they would tell their brothers and sisters everything that happened to them. It may reopen old wounds, and possibly start another war."

"It looks like we might face another war, anyway." said O'Hara. "Most of the countries around the world face poverty and unrest within their own borders. Even our own country isn't above that. We may be facing a second Civil War as we speak, sir. The most we can do is focus our resources on keeping the peace and helping our citizens. We can't do that if we're spending all our money on keeping the Chimerans locked up, doing God-knows-what to them."

"But that's not the only reason why we can't just let them go yet." said Wells. "There is a hostile force on the prowl beyond our shores, slaughtering Chimerans and humans alike, and we would be allowing even more to be killed if they were to leave our custody..."

"I'm sorry, sir. But that decision is with the president, and with Congress. We're military men. We exist to protect our country's laws, not make them. I assure you that I don't like this any more than you, sir. But we have no choice."

Wells closed his eyes, and shook his head in disbelief.

"Colonel...good-bye."

He hung up the phone, and stood up. He took a swig from the bottle of lager on his desk. After the work he had done to help the people in the coastal areas, to protect the Chimerans that were in his custody from the butchers and madmen that his superiors would have hired in his place, to try and teach them the positive aspects of humanity...it would all be for nothing.

Now all of his work would have to be focused on the living hell that was the inland regions of the United States of America. Nothing now could distract from the terrors he would have to deal with soon. Terrors that his superiors were battling right now, leaving him and the other lesser military leaders to deal with the leftovers of the flood and the war. He could only hope that his upcoming contributions would help return the country to its former greatness. That was all he could hope for now.

* * *

The great black airship soared high among the steel-gray clouds. The craft was like a nautical vessel at the top, but a zeppelin at the bottom. The back was lined with a mixture of turbofans and jet engines. A massive gondola covered much of the bottom of the craft, its middle adorned with six red lights and comprised several levels with rows of walls of reinforced glass.

Aboard the craft was a tall, gaunt figure in an extravagant, sleek black outfit. He had a black-and-silver mask covering the lower half of his face (save for his long, pointed nose). On the upper-right corner of the mask was a ring-shaped apparatus covering his eye, like a metallic monocle. Beneath the mask was a wizened, horribly disfigured face. The figure had a mane of wild graying black hair that hung down along his neck.

The man was standing in the middle of the gondola's bridge, surveying the clouds below him. He lifted his right hand, and the airship began to slow itself. A high-pitched, feminine voice spoke to the man over the intercom.

"All systems are once again operational, sir. Including jamming systems."

"Magnificent." said the man. "That vessel must not be allowed to relay any further information to its superiors inland."

The man had a rough voice, which was also slightly muffled and distorted by the mask he wore. Regardless, his voice was understood without difficulty.

"What about the Chimerans?"

"Paolo's group was compromised." said the voice. "But they've still accomplished 87.2% of their secondary objectives, and are willing and prepared to finish their mission."

The man's eyes flashed.

"Send a message to them:" said the man. "They are not to receive their reward until the Chimeran leader is subdued or terminated."

"It will be done, master." said the voice.

"And is there any anything else worth reporting?"

"Yes. A few hours ago, a submarine was detected traveling towards Nova Scotia. They appear to be responding to a signal originating from that area. I believe the vessel may be from Blue Fleet; its markings are identical to that of the _Ryuoh_."

"So Blue Fleet is getting themselves involved." said the man. "And Blue-6, no less. This will be interesting. I've savored this moment for some time."

The man turned around, and strode down the stark black length of the bridge with his arms crossed behind his back. As he walked, He sharply turned his head to inspect each and every member of his crew. No expressions, no faces, no thoughts, no souls. For they were all robotic in nature. Most of them were mere arms and torsos plugged into terminals, which they transmitted data to and from endlessly. Others were mounted on wheels or treadmills, which would allow them to move across the room to other devices. A rare few even had heads and full sets of limbs. All of them were too occupied with their work to focus on anything else, much less their leader looking directly at them as he passed them by.

The master of the airship entered an elevator that took him up to the next level. He came out of the lift and into a large ovular room with a holographic map of the Atlantic Ocean in the center. He walked over to the southern edge of the map, and entered a code on a keypad. A red blip appeared on the map, near Nova Scotia. It was slowly headed towards Greenland. Calmly, he pressed a button on his wrist-mounted device. A series of lines appeared on the device's screen.

"Lucya." said the master. "Send word to our Outriders. Blue-6 is now headed towards Site G."

"Yes, master." said the female voice, accompanied by the lines wavering repeatedly.

"And deploy a squadron of drones to eliminate the Canadian vessel, along with any and all evidence of Chimeran activity in the area, by any means necessary. We've given them enough time to evacuate. Let's hope for their sake that they've used that time wisely."

He chuckled to himself a little.

"Of course, it will hardly make a difference, anyway."

An alarm blared in the lower decks of the airship, and twelve small aircraft emerged from ovular doors that opened underneath the bridge.

* * *

The refugees and marines continued their trek through the flooded ruins of Halifax. As they continued, there was a cold breeze in the air. More snow was coming down on their masked heads. Knox started shuddering.

"Damn this weather." he said.

"You'd might as well get used to it, old man." said Campbell. "There's nothing but cold weather here in Canada. And I should know, because I've lived here my whole life."

"But I reckon you always had a nice house to bundle yourself in." said Knox. "The buildings here don't seem like safe places to hide in. Not just because most of them are flooded, but there's also the threat of disease looming over our heads!"

Just then, there was a loud creaking noise from above. Everyone looked up, and saw the tremendous oblong bulk of a billboard fall from a rooftop above them, and land in the water with a large splash. Everyone looked at the billboard where it landed, then Campbell took a moment to look at where it originally stood. It was an office building that was in complete disrepair. He could swear that he saw movement in one of the upper floors, but it was hard to tell because of the snow in the air. If only he had his sniper rifle with him...

He turned to a marine, and asked him for his binoculars. Upon receiving them, he scanned the length of the upper levels of the building. At first, he saw nothing. Just empty hallways connecting to dark rooms with dusty furniture. But then he decided to look up at the roof. He made three quick sweeps of the edges. Then he found the steel beams that once held the billboard, and saw they had been broken off. He zoomed out slightly, and noticed a lone figure standing nearby on the roof next to the building. With a jolt of excitement, he zoomed in on the figure. It was an old man with dark mottled skin and long graying black hair tied back in a ponytail. He was holding a knobby cane and was wearing a tattered outfit without any sort of mask or headgear. The man seemed to be looking right at him, even though he had no scope or binoculars of his own.

"Who is that...?" Campbell muttered.

The lenses of the binoculars were fogged up. Campbell quickly wiped them clean, and searched again for the old man. But he was gone. He started surveying the upper levels of the building the man had been standing on, only to be met with total darkness inside. Campbell mouthed something.

"Hey! What's the matter?" asked Knox.

"I think I saw someone across the way." asked Campbell. "Old guy. He looked First Nations or something."

"First what?" asked Knox.

"You know, the Canadian equivalent of Native Americans." said Campbell. "He was just standing there, all alone. Then he was gone."

"Good." said Knox. "He's probably trying to get out of here, just like us. I can't imagine why anyone would want to stay in a place like this."

One of the other people from Nogadsville suddenly approached them. It was a slim blond man with a thin face. Like the other members of the group, he was wearing a protective gas mask.

"What is it, Grant?" asked Knox.

"I think we're being followed." said Grant. "I keep seeing and hearing shit. Sounds like he is, too."

He pointed at Campbell.

"What have you been seeing and hearing." asked Knox.

"Voices in the distance, creaking from above and below. Shadows moving when no one else is around."

He looked around, breathing heavily.

"I don't like this at all." he said. "Look out there again. Just look out there."

Knox looked out the window.

"You notice something?" Grant asked him.

"Now that you mention it, yes..." whispered Knox. "Nobody else is out there. I remember there being a lot of people living in this area during the war, even in spite of the risk of disease. But in the recent months, we stopped hearing from them. No one ever said anything about people moving out of this area. So something must've..."

He paused.

"Let's hope we get out of this place soon."

"It's half past three." said Sgt. Patel, uneasily. "We need to get moving. It'll be dark before you know it."

The group crossed over to the next building, which was an apartment complex. Dry land was still hours away, and the sun was already setting over it. The weather outside was getting worse, too; They were now unable to see Devils Isle or the _Aronnax_. One of the marines spoke into his radio headset, then stood silent for a moment.

"Shoot, the reception's getting bad." he finally said.

"What's the matter, private?" asked Patel.

"I can barely hear a damn thing from the ship." said the private.

"Maybe it's the building we're in?" suggested Campbell.

"Doubt it." said the private. "More likely the ship's going through issues with maintenance."

"Christ, we need to maintain constant communication with that ship." said Patel. "O'Brien, you and Holman get back to the ship and figure out what's wrong. Then return back here. The rest of us will find a secure location in this building and hole ourselves up there."

"Yes, sir." said the private, as he and another marine went back over the walkway to the previous building.

The rest of the group continued through the complex. They had barely descended two floors when the sound of jet engines passed over the building. Campbell and Sandra ran over to the window, just in time to see multiple dark flying objects fly by them. They were headed in the direction of the harbor and the _Aronnax_.

"What the hell were those things?" Campbell muttered.

There was the sound of heavy gunfire in the distance, which the marines immediately identified as the _Aronnax'_ s remaining turrets and deck guns being fired.

" _Aronnax_ , this is Sergeant Patel!" he shouted into his headset. "Sergeant Patel to _Aronnax_. What is going on out there?!"

A loud screech came from his headset, causing him to involuntarily knock it off his head. He cursed angrily as he picked it up again. There was a cascade of explosions coming from the harbor and beyond. The gunfire gradually ceased. Campbell looked back at the harbor, and saw the buildings nearest the ocean were now erupting in flames. He felt his jaw drop as he watched a hotel combust as though it were doused with gasoline and then collapse into the water with an ear-shattering crash. Then the flying shapes passed over them again.

"Everyone out!" he yelled. "We're being bombed! Get out while we still can!"

"You heard him, everyone!" shouted Sgt. Patel, at the top of his lungs. "Go, go, go!"

The entire group quickly ran down towards the walkways on the far end of the complex. They felt the building they were in shake, and there heard loud rustling and shaking. Finally, another loud boom was heard. This time, from above. The roof had been completely taken out with explosives. But still, the group was able to make it into the next building before the floors in the complex collapsed in a heap of burning wood and metal. But they weren't as lucky with avoiding the effects of the next explosion that followed. The building they were now in began to give way. The floor began to crack, and several people fell into the holes that opened up. Sgt. Patel and Grant were among these people. Many other buildings were being demolished by the bombardment of the unknown aircraft.

After a while, the bombing ceased, but the chilly winter air was now superheated and thick with smoke and ash. The aircraft were all flying off into the sky, away from the ruins of Halifax.

"Is everyone okay down there?" Sandra yelled down to the people that had fallen.

"We're all okay!" said Grant. "I think Jones here might've busted his leg, but I think he'll make it!"

"Hang on, we'll come down and help you!" Campbell shouted.

Suddenly, there was a blood-curdling shriek down below, followed by the sounds of yelling and fighting. Then several gunshots rang out in the darkness. Campbell took a flashlight from an injured marine, and looked down into the hole to search for the people that had fallen in. Illuminating the room, they took a moment to survey the inside. To their surprise, the level the people had fallen into was completely dry and devoid of seawater. It also wasn't too great a fall, either. Just under a dozen feet. After a few seconds, they found Sgt. Patel, Grant, and two other people standing anxiously over nine corpses that were all maimed and covered in blood. Two of them were marines and three were civilians, while the others were horribly disfigured monstrosities that barely resembled human beings. Sgt. Patel had his Inglis Hi-Power out, and he was excitedly pointing his smoking handgun down at one of the creatures he killed, his mouth hanging open in shock.

"I think..." Patel breathed heavily. "...I think that we're not alone in this city!"

Knox saw the bodies, and felt his gray hair stand on end. He knew what they were, and so did Sandra. Then there were hurried footsteps and even more shrieking coming from the floors above and below them. Campbell cocked his gun, as did all the other people that were armed. But not Knox.

"Hey, didn't you have that revolver?" he asked. "Now would be a good time to use it!"

"Nah, I gave it to that one black kid that was in your group." said Knox.

"You mean Matt?" asked Campbell. "You gave a gun to Matt?!"

"Don't worry, son." said Knox. "I never go without a backup weapon."

He pulled out a blued steel Colt Delta Elite pistol from his jacket. He muttered something indistinctly, loading a magazine and pulling back on the slide.

Just as Knox did so, a loud pounding noise came from a nearby door. Everyone present pointed their guns at the door as it gave way. Several more creatures went through the door, with feral expressions on their hideous faces. Their snarls were immediately met with gunfire as a second door that was adjacent to the first swung itself open. An even larger swarm of creatures poured through it and blindsided several people that were occupied with blasting the first group. One of them clung onto Campbell, which caused him to lose his balance and they both tumbled into the hole. Campbell shot his attacker in the head just as it was about to bite his neck, and then he watched Sandra, Knox, and a few other people jump down after him. Those that stayed above were slaughtered without mercy.

Knox landed hard with a loud grunt, but was able to stand himself up with Sandra's help.

"What the hell are those things?!" exclaimed Sgt. Patel, firing his gun at the creatures.

After his gun was emptied, he threw a grenade up through the hole. The resulting explosion killed several of the creatures, drove away the rest, and resealed the hole with debris from the upper floor's ceiling. Now it was completely dark in the room. Everyone that had a light on them immediately turned it on so that they could see each other.

"It's just as I feared." said Knox, gravely. "I was hoping we would never have to deal with them, but the citizens of Halifax have indeed been infected with the disease."

"They've become monsters, just like the ones in our town!" said Grant. "They must've gone into the city after we drove them out..."

"Yeah, and then those explosions probably woke them up." said Sandra. "We could've probably made it all the way to the mainland without meeting any of them. But those aircraft ruined everything and blew our cover."

"And there's no going back to the ship." said Patel. "Even if the _Aronnax_ is still out there, we would never be able to reach it now. Our communications are being jammed, so there's no way to call for backup, either. And there's no telling how far the fires from those explosions could spread. The only way out of Halifax is by getting to dry land. I can only hope Holman and O'Brien survived."

Campbell gave everyone a refreshed of their situation.

"So not only do we have a hostile force up in the air that could rain death down on us at any minute and has already done so twice, we also have to deal with a prehistoric virus that's created a borderline zombie apocalypse, in a city that is not only flooded _and_ on fire, but in the middle of the coldest winter Canada's had in years. That means we would also have to trek through dozens of miles of bitter-cold snow and ice even if we _do_ get out of here."

Grant groaned.

"I guess we're completely screwed, aren't we? As if those damn Zorndyke monsters weren't bad enough."

"We'll make it out of here, everyone!" said Patel. "I know we will. Just follow my lead."

He picked up a C8CQB carbine from one of his fallen comrades, loaded it with an extended sixty-round STANAG magazine, and cocked it. He then pulled out a flashlight from his backpack, and attached it to the carbine.

"Right now, we need to find a way out of this room. We won't be safe in here for long. And whatever you do, do not remove your gas masks or gloves for any reason. We don't need anyone else to get infected."

* * *

 **A/N** : As of this (extra long) chapter's posting, Blue Submarine No. 6 (the anime, at least) is now twenty years old! Still no sign of a sequel, movie, or reboot being released, unfortunately. But there's always fanfiction, including this one. If you've enjoyed it so far, please comment and fave/follow the story so that you will remain up-to-date.


	24. Assault on Blue-6

Blue-6 was now just a couple dozen leagues from Greenland. The voyage was mostly uneventful since Hayami, his team, and the Musuca survivors were retrieved from Nova Scotia. This was about to change.

"Yamada, are the waters clear?" asked Captain Iga.

"Nothing on sonar, sir." said Yamada.

"Maintain our present course." said Iga.

"Aye-aye, sir." said Cekeros.

"Captain, we're picking up something on the ocean's surface." said the radar technician. "Forty-five degrees starboard."

"Up periscope!" said Iga.

The submarine's periscope was raised above the water, and the captain was now attempting to scan the horizon. But there was no horizon, as there were clouds of vapor covering the water's surface in every direction.

"Can't see anything." grumbled Iga. "Damn fog."

He exhaled through his nostrils. Just as he was about to lower the periscope, he caught something through the scopes: A massive craft was speeding towards them over the fog. Hovering no more than twenty feet over the water, the craft passed over the submarine.

"What the hell was that?"

Iga quickly adjusted the periscope so that it faced the opposite direction. This allowed him to have a better look at the hovering vehicle. It was low-winged and resembled a low-winged jumbo jet, but it was too large and heavy to actually fly in the air any more than a couple dozen meters, and there were several turbofans on its wings and fuselage. On the ends of the wings were large pontoons that would allow the craft to float on the water.

"Stay sharp, everyone." said Iga. "We have a ground-effect vehicle topside."

"What course of action do you suggest, sir?" asked Yuri.

"Do not engage. Repeat, do not engage. Take us down thirty degrees, and stand by for further orders."

"Aye-aye, captain." said Freeda.

The ground-effect vehicle hovered along over the ocean. They had no way of determining whether it was friend or foe to Blue Fleet, as it was painted black with no sigil or markings to indicate its allegiance. And it mysteriously did not appear on the submarine's radar; it must have been constructed with radar-absorbent materials. Just before it disappeared into the mist, the ramp in the back was opened and two objects were dropped into the water.

* * *

In the Chimerans' quarters, Giorgia was hissing and growling at Mutio.

"Giorgia, what's the matter?" Amonyushuu asked her.

Giorgia yowled in response.

"What she decides to do is completely up to her..."

Giorgia scoffed, then muttered.

"I think that she and Hayami would be nice together." Amonyushuu continued. "It's because of them that the war with the humans ended. Can't you be happy that you no longer need to fight them?"

Giorgia scowled at Mutio, and grabbed her by the arm. She tried pulling the text-to-speech device on her wrist, but Mutio jerked her hand back. Mutio whimpered a little, as her sister started pulling on her swimsuit, and then reaching underneath it and around her back, clearly trying to find a way to take it off of her.

"Giorgia, you shouldn't do that." said Amonyushuu. "There is nothing wrong with her wearing that outfit. I wear clothes too, you know."

But she was ignored. Giorgia started gnawing at the loins keeping Mutio's suit together.

"Levina..."

Levina approached Giorgia, who hissed at her. It was then that Levina finally opened her mouth, revealing large fangs and sharp teeth. She growled furiously, and the two nereid sisters backed away from each other in unison. Deidson and two crewmen entered the room, each with Minebea P9A2 pistols holstered on their belts.

"Hey, we got a problem in here?" asked Deidson.

"Giorgia's angry at Mutio." said Amonyushuu. "She was..."

Suddenly, the room began to tremble.

"Did you feel that?" asked Amonyushuu.

Then the room trembled again, and the klaxon blared.

"All hands, report to battle stations! We are under attack! Repeat, we are under attack!"

Mutio gasped.

"Hayami!" she exclaimed.

She rushed past the three men.

"Hey! Get back here!" Deidson shouted. "We need to keep you secure!"

Giorgia growled, and then sped after her.

* * *

Two large machines with eight clawed limbs were pounding on Blue-6's hull. Both were able to penetrate the exterior by means of mounted buzzsaw-like weapons, causing water to spill into the vessel. But the holes were quickly resealed by an umbilical tube that connected the machines to the submarine. Roughly twenty or so small crab-like robots crawled though each tube, and covertly boarded the submarine. As soon as they went aboard, they immediately split up and went down separate corridors and into different rooms. Their presence was concealed by the darkness of the sub's interior, and the sounds of their movement were hidden by the alarm howling throughout Blue-6. This would allow them a good three minutes to distribute themselves throughout the sub before they made their move.

* * *

Trey, who finally got back to his feet, ran out into the corridor to look for his brother.

"Matt!" he yelled, looking over and among all the crew members running past. "Matt, where are you?! Hey, has anyone seen Matt? Damn it, where are you?"

Suddenly, there was the sound of repeated banging coming from a nearby door. The door was forced open, and a crab-drone emerged from the room, its four blue optic sensors blinking rapidly as it scanned the people, who all stopped running and looked at it in surprise. The blue lights immediately became red, and matching laser beams shone from the drone's arms, which had what appeared to be guns at the ends.

 _PIPP! PIPP! PIPP!_

The crab-drone fired suppressed shots at the crew, who also scattered and took cover. Two were hit in the legs, and collapsed while crying out in pain. Trey quickly hid back in the room. Among the sailors were security officers, who immediately started brandishing guns to fire back. They succeeding in destroying the drone, but three more appeared nearby and wasted no time in retaliating. Gunfire erupted in the corridor, and several men and women were now joining in or running away from the shooting. Amid the chaos, Trey ran back out of the room, and went in the opposite direction from where the fighting was taking place.

* * *

Hayami jumped out of bed in a daze as soon as the alarm rang. He didn't even have time to put his shirt back on, but at least he hadn't bothered to take his pants, tank top, or shoes off. He picked up his Browning Buckmark, and went outside to check the commotion. He was surprised to see a crab-like robot on the floor, staring him directly in the face. Acting on pure intuition and reflexes, Hayami aimed his pistol at the small machine, and put five bullets into it, and then did the same thing with a second that came skirted down the stairs to his right.

Just then, the door to Kino's room opened across from him. Hayami aimed through the doorway and pulled the trigger. He was unknowingly aiming straight at Kino's throat, and would have popped a bullet into her jugular had he not run out of ammo. This made Hayami cringe, and Kino gasp loudly when she realized how close her Grampus partner was to killing her.

"Hayami!"

"Oh shit, sorry." Hayami said. "I thought you were one of them."

He pointed at the crab-drone at his feet with his pistol.

"What...what is that thing?!" Kino whispered breathlessly.

Gunshots rang down the corridor to the left, where Jonald was blasting a third crab-drone with his Taurus PT92, and Estella (who appeared to have just woken up, as she was still in her underwear) was emptying her Walther PPX into a fourth.

"Those damn things almost ripped my face off in my sleep!" Estella yelled over to Kino and Hayami.

"We need to find out how many got aboard." said Kino. "Hurry up!"

She and Hayami ran downstairs, while Estella went back into her room to get dressed.

They went down the corridor and Kino loaded her pistol. The door at the end of the corridor swung open with a clang. Yet another drone came through the doorway and opened fire on them, almost hitting Kino's head and Hayami's shoulder. Kino aimed her gun and fired at it relentlessly. A second entered the room, treading on its predecessor with its guns aimed directly at Kino and Hayami, laser sights and all. Then to Kino and Hayami's surprise, Mutio appeared behind it, and hacked it apart with a large fire axe she was gingerly carrying in her hands.

"Hayami!" she yelled, dropping the axe and speeding over to grab him excitedly.

"Mutio?" he asked, confused. "Are you okay?"

Mutio nodded. She pointed up the stairs.

* * *

While Hayami and Kino went downstairs, Jonald stayed outside Estella's room to watch her back, both strategically and literally. As soon as she had her clothes put back on, she said to Jonald:

"Those new guys might need our help."

"Right." said Jonald.

They ran down the corridor, where more combat was taking place between the crew and the strange robotic intruders. Jonald almost tripped over a woman that was laying on the floor, on the verge of bleeding to death. Recognizing her, he stooped over to comfort her.

"Gina!" he exclaimed. "Don't worry, you'll be fine!"

"Jonald...I can't...feel my legs!"

Estella and Jonald both grabbed Gina and dragged her to safety, shooting back at the robots as they did so. Then they went back outside, just in time to watch Pete and Alex join in on the battle. Pete was armed with his Beretta, and was capping a nearby drone between the sensors, while Alex was behind him, unarmed but stomping down on another drone with all his might. Then he picked up a pistol from a fallen security officer and fired over Pete's shoulder. By the time they were done shooting, there were four drones destroyed, along with five crewmen laying injured or possibly dead in the corridor. There was a fifth, but it disappeared in a smokescreen that it generated from a cavity in its back.

" _Vamanos_!" Alex turned to yell at Jonald and Estella.

He and Pete ran after the runaway machine, discharging their firearms after it. They stopped firing once the corridor was too thick to be see anything.

"What's down this way again?" asked Pete.

"The sickbay." said Alex.

"Aw, shit!"

They both ran even faster, hellbent on getting to the room before the robot did.

* * *

"Hey, doc..." rasped Cyrus. "What the hell is going on out there? It sounds like a goddamn battlefield!"

"Not a clue, Cyrus." said Dr. Foxcourt. "It's the first time this has happened on this bloody boat! At least the first I can recall..."

Just then, the escaping drone entered the room. Cyrus muttered confusedly as he looked at the strange machine. Then he noticed the guns on its arms. He slowly reached for his Browning Hi-Power, when the drone suddenly aimed at him.

"Shit..." he whispered to himself.

Seven shots were fired at the drone, destroying it. Cyrus turned himself around, and saw that Dr. Foxcourt had grabbed Delacroix's Inglis Hi-Power (which Cyrus still had on him from Nova Scotia), and was pointing it at the machine.

"No patient's dying in _my_ medical ward!" he said, boastfully.

The machine's optics were still blinking a bit, so Cyrus lifted his Browning and fired another bullet into it for good measure. The lights in the optics went out permanently. Pete and Alex ran into the room, their guns out. They looked down at the drone, and then at Cyrus.

"Oh, hey." said Pete. "I see you're up. Sleep well?"

Estella, Jonald, Hayami, Kino, and Mutio arrived now. Mutio's mouth was hanging open and she let out a very squeaky cry of delight when she saw Cyrus was conscious.

"Cyrus!"

She went up to him, and climbed onto the bed to hug him.

"Ow! Mutio!" Cyrus coughed. "Yes, I'm up! I'm happy to see you, too. Now please stop. You're hurting me!"

Mutio obeyed, and politely slid off the bed to make room.

"There are more of those things all over the sub." said Kino. "We're got a lot of people dead or wounded, doc."

"Oh my god." said Dr. Foxcourt, who was positively heartbroken by this news. "No..."

"We need to go help the others." said Kino. "Doc, you should come with us. We have a lot of people right outside that need their wounds attended to."

"Right, then." nodded Foxcourt. "Take me to them at once. But we'll need someone to watch Cyrus."

"I'll do it." said Hayami. "I think Mutio would, too."

"Yeah, Cyrus is practically her dad." agreed Pete, with a surprisingly sincere tone in his voice.

Cyrus shot a venomous look at him.

"Well, you are!" said Pete. "You've been treating her like she was your baby since the day you met her!"

"Pete...shut up for once in your life, and help the doctor with the injured crew." said Cyrus.

"Yes, boss." said Pete, nervously.

"Then everyone else, come with me!" said Kino. "We have to help secure the area."

* * *

Matt was already halfway between the room where he had his argument with Trey and the Chimerans' quarters. He wasn't sure if he should go back to his brother, or if he should check on Mutio and Amonyushuu. An engineer came running over to him. He had a wrench in his right hand, and with his left grabbed Matt by the shoulder.

"Kid, it's too dangerous here. We have intruders on every level of the sub! You need to come with me to a safe room!"

"Is anyone checking on Mutio and the other hybrids?"

"Yes, they have three men protecting them right now."

Then there were gunshots down the stairs to the right, where the Chimerans' quarters were located.

"Kid, let's go!" said the engineer. "They've got everything under control down there."

Then the gunshots were subsided and replaced with growling noises and screams of agony.

"It don't sound like it!" said Matt.

Matt ran down the stairs and entered the Chimerans' quarters. Deidson was laying nearby, alive but his arm on his chest and covered in blood. None of the hybrids were anywhere to be seen.

"Where's the others?" Matt asked Deidson.

Deidson coughed loudly, and then cleared his throat.

"Mutio ran off, I think to find Hayami." he rasped. "Giorgia ran after her, too. Amonyushuu got dragged off by another one of those things, and Levina went after it. Those damn robots killed Kiev and Lei."

He turned his head to look at the two dead security officers nearby.

"Which way did the drone go with her?"

"Out the other door!"

Matt ran over to the door at the opposite end of the room, and sprinted down the hallway. He caught up to Levina, who was upright leaning against a corner.

"Hey, where's..."

Levina growled at him. Then she put a finger against her mouth. She pointed out two crab-drones that were standing sentinel by a door. There was a ventilation shaft above them that was slightly ajar. There was another one of them just above Matt, which Levina also pointed out. There were two large hexagonal bolts keeping it shut.

"Got it." said Matt.

He ran back to the Chimerans' quarters, where the engineer with the wrench was now helping Deidson back to his feet.

"Oh, there you are." said the engineer. "Hey, while you're here, you think you can..."

But he was ignored. Matt swiped his wrench out of his hand. Then he ran back to Levina. He reached up, and unscrewed the bolts. Once the second bolt fell, so did the grate. Levina immediately jumped into the ventilation shaft. The tumbling noises she made were very audible. It wouldn't be long before the drones figured out she was up there. He pulled Knox's Colt Python out from under his jacket, cocked the hammer, and carefully aimed at the first drone. He cautiously lined up the shot, pulled the trigger, and a .357 Magnum bullet burst out of the barrel. The bullet sped into the drone's right arm, shattering it completely. The drones immediately left their posts at the door, and slowly approached Matt, firing their guns at him. Matt dove around the corner again, and hit the floor hard. But before the drones could shoot him dead, Levina jumped down from the other shaft onto one drone, and then ripped the other apart with her claws. Matt opened the door, which led to another corridor, where a third drone was slowly dragging Amonyushuu along towards a circular opening in the hull. She was unconscious and tethered to the drone by a cable. Matt raised his revolver again and emptied it into the drone, utterly obliterating it before it even had a chance to unleash its smokescreen.

"Hey!" Matt yelled as he ran over to Amonyushuu. "Are ya all right?!"

He was within arm's reach of her, when suddenly the opening collapsed, and a massive jet of water gushed forward, knocking him clean off his feet. Levina caught him and Amonyushuu just in time, and threw them out into the other corridor. Then she sealed the door tight, even as she remained on the flooding side. Fortunately, there were no other rooms or corridors of significance connecting to the now flooded hall, or Blue-6 would be in serious trouble.

She turned to look through the opening. She dove forward against the current. She was now in the open ocean, watching the machine that was responsible for the opening accelerate away from Blue-6. Just then, she noticed what appeared to be a large, translucent cloud of a pale grayish-brown color appear in the distant blue of the ocean, from the exact same direction the machine was escaping to.

* * *

"Captain, we've got flooding on the third deck!" shouted Yuri.

"Helmsman, take us topside!" shouted Iga.

Cekeros and Freeda immediately complied, and gradually rose the sub towards the surface.

* * *

Matt was checking on Amonyushuu, who was slowly but surely opening her eyes. She stirred and groaned a little.

"Matt?" she whispered. "Did _you_ save me?"

"Yeah." said Matt. "Of course I did! I'd be a douchebag if I didn't."

Amonyushuu struggled to sit up and slip out of the cable that bound her.

"Here, let me help ya."

Matt helped her get the cable off of her body.

"There ya go..."

"Thank you."

Amonyushuu looked at the revolver laying on the ground, and then at the destroyed robots that Levina tore apart.

"Matt, did you do that?" asked Amonyushuu.

Matt thought for a moment, and then nodded. He sat down next to Amonyushuu.

"Yeah I did." he said coolly, as he stuffed the revolver under his jacket again. "Well...Levina helped, too. A little bit. No idea where she went."

"Well, I'm sure she can handle herself." said Amonyushuu.

She crossed her white-furred arms over her chest and stretched her legs on the floor.

"Either way, it was very heroic." she said to him, graciously. "What you did for me, I mean. I think I'm starting to..."

She paused and blinked.

"Yeah?" Matt nodded for her to finish her sentence.

The two began to stare into each other's eyes. But before either of them could say another word, Trey finally caught up to them.

"Matt!" he said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" Matt shouted back, restless and annoyed. "Yeah, I am. But I gotta make sure she's okay! If you're about to yell at me for this, I don't give a shit!"

Trey bent over to look at Matt's face.

"Matt...bro." said Trey. "Neither do I. Right now, I'm just glad you're safe. Now let's get her down to the doc."

* * *

Blue-6 was now amid the fog. The ground-effect vehicle had now come around and was heading towards the vessel, engines roaring deafeningly, machine guns blazing, and rockets being fired. It strafed over to Blue-6 so that it was facing the bow. The mechanical saboteurs that it had deployed ultimately managed to complete their apparent primary objective: Cause havoc aboard the sub until it would be forced to surface. Now there was no way for the submarine to dive again without extensive repairs. Repairs it would not be receiving out there in the middle of the Atlantic. This meant the ground-effect vehicle was now free to unleash its full arsenal upon Blue-6, the famed submarine whose crew fought and won many battles against Chimeran and human military forces alike in every ocean on the planet.

The rockets struck the submarine with tremendous force, but not enough to cause significant damage to the hull on their own. But a constant barrage would easily destroy the whole thing if it found the right spots to hit.

"Thank God for the reinforced plating." grinned Iga, as he observed his airborne adversary through the periscope. "Activate the deck guns!"

Several hatches opened up on the submarine, and out came various machine gun turrets. The crew that were fortunate enough to reach their battle stations in spite of the battle aboard the vessel were quick to take control of the guns, and all opened fire on the craft. But the gunfire did little; their firing rate was abysmal against the strafing speed of the craft, and their target was too heavily armored. Furthermore, most of the engines couldn't be aimed at since they were in the back... _most of them were in the back_. And the aircraft was very slowly moving backwards, even slower than when it was moving forwards.

Iga laughed aloud when he noticed how determined the craft was at shooting the submarine to the point where it was strafing less and less. It was only flying in reverse to keep itself in front of Blue-6.

"Helmsman." he smiled devilishly through his bushy mustache. "Let's ram that son of a bitch. Full speed ahead!"

Blue-6's motors were spinning so wildly, they seemed to create whirlpools. The submarine accelerated forward with remarkable speed towards its nemesis. While the craft was large and tough, there would be no surviving a physical collision with a metal warship of that size and strength. There would be no time for it to turn around and speed away, and it was not built to fly at high altitudes, which meant it was unable to fly upwards. All it could do is continue flying in reverse and hope its weaponry could cripple the sub before it made contact. But it was too late.

The ground-effect vehicle was split in half by Blue-6's tower, and exploded in the air. The wreckage draped Blue-6's length before falling on either side into the Atlantic.

"Target is destroyed!"

The crew of the bridge all cheered.

* * *

Giorgia was charging down the corridor like a bull, her head darting left and right as she looked around for her sister. She came to another corridor where Luke, Rockefeller, and a few crewmen were at a standoff with even more drones. One of the drones generated a smokescreen, which made it hard for the humans to fire back. But it was hardly a problem for Giorgia to see them, as her eyes could very easily detect movement in the thickest of fog or mist. She snorted as she saw the four machines, and opened her mouth. Ushering forth from her mouth came a ghastly screech with such pitch and intensity that it caused the auditory and optic sensors on the drones to overload and explode. The drones then began discharging their guns in random directions, their bullets ricocheting off the walls. Everyone in the corridor took cover in the connecting rooms, but Giorgia stayed outside and grabbed one of the drones, using its chassis as a shield from its counterparts' bullets. Then she bashed it into another drone while screaming maniacally.

The third drone, which had taken the least damage, was able to reorient itself enough to turn and aim at her. It shot out a taser cable at her face, which she dodged. Then she dove under its trajectory, and grabbed the cable. Then she swung the drone against a wall, and started punching it with blinding speed.

 _BANG! BANG!_

The fourth drone was gunned down. Giorgia turned around, and saw Katsuma standing before her, a smoking Glock in his hand.

"Let's go." he said to her.

Katsuma and Giorgia rushed on down the corridor to discover the second machine had already detached itself and left a gaping hole in the wall. But no water came in, since Blue-6 had already surfaced. Levina climbed in through the hole, and pointed at a cluster of glowing blue lights in the fog. Giorgia turned around to face Katsuma and the humans that she had just saved, stood herself upright and put her hands on her hips in mockery, and her snarling mouth bent itself into a wide, sinister grin. Katsuma looked out into the ocean, and could slowly make out several heads that were extremely similar to Giorgia's floating in the water. And then to the shock of everyone except the Chimerans, two live Musucas that were each nearly as large as Blue-6 appeared on, and then _became_ the increasingly visible horizon.


	25. Arkulus

Verg was standing alone in a large dark room. The tremendous shark-man was naked except for an armored loincloth like garment he wore around his waist. There were two robotic humanoids flanking him, and he was on his knees with electrical shackles on his wrist. He was looking at a vast and barely visible computer screen, much like the one that was aboard the Phantom Ship. At the moment, it was blank. Verg was becoming impatient.

"What's going on here?!" he growled. "Why am I even here if nobody's going to say something? Who are you people? _What_ are you people?"

Right on cue, the screen finally turned on. A tall, thin old man with a black-and-silver mask covering the lower half of his face was looking down at him.

"Welcome to Greenland, Admiral Verg." he said, with a rough and somewhat distorted voice. "I've been waiting for this moment for such a long time."

"What is this?!" Verg snarled, standing up. "Where are the rest of my crew?"

"Good." said the man. "So you _can_ talk without the device. I was afraid I would have to go down there and build another one for you."

He was referring to the device that was inside of the metal brace he used to wear on his head prior to Zorndyke's death. But in the subsequent months, Verg had since overcome the need to wear it.

"But what about the Musuca? And my crew?"

"Your Musuca was destroyed, and the crew is either dead or in captivity. All are being processed and examined as we speak. I have not discovered how many have survived, since I am not currently in the building at this time."

"You better hope you never meet me face-to-face; I would tear your head from your shoulders." threatened Verg.

"You are hardly in any position to make threats, Verg." the man retorted. "You know not who you speak to."

"Whatever." said Verg. "Just give me your name."

"I am not at liberty to do that at this particular moment." said the man. "But you may call me Arkulus."

"So what do you want?" asked Verg.

"I would ask the same of you." said Arkulus.

"The poles and the ocean are rightfully ours." said Verg. "You have no business stopping us from building a refuge up here in the Arctic."

"The Arctic has become too dangerous for organic life." said Arkulus. "When Zorndyke melted the ice caps, he unleashed countless bacteria and viruses that have laid dormant for eons in the ice into the Northern Hemisphere's land and water. Several countries have been affected already; Iceland, Greenland, Russia, Norway, Canada. And it won't be long before the diseases spread to the south. If your kind builds a sanctuary here, you will contract the viruses and any traveling you choose to do will spread them through the rest of the oceans."

Arkulus coughed a little.

"But that's not all. Greenland is home to an abandoned military base that housed radioactive materials beneath the ice sheet. But since the ice sheet is gone, there is nothing concealing the toxic waste or preventing it from spreading across the landscape, or even into the surrounding ocean waters. You are fortunate to be down there in that complex. Only that which is mechanical may survive outside for long. Indeed, the people native to Greenland that chose to stay rather than be evacuated have either died or _will_ die very soon unless something is done."

"I don't care what happens to the land-dwellers." said Verg.

"Neither do I, to tell you the truth." said Arkulus. "Organic life is obsolete. And you, Verg, are a reminder of how repulsive and chaotic it may become. Humanity is the ultimate lifeform on this planet, not you. But we are still subjected to the same weaknesses we see in lesser creatures. Aging, disease, fatigue, starvation. All of these things can kill a human as it would an insect or a whale."

He coughed harshly, clutching his chest for a brief moment. Once he stopped, he cleared his throat and put his arm behind his back.

"That's why..." rasped Arkulus. "I have begun perfecting the true successor to humanity. One that is free of the mortality that dooms all organic life."

He made a gesture at the robots guarding Verg, who scoffed loudly.

"Them?" he muttered in disbelief. "These stupid machines are going to inherit the world? The world papa promised my kind would live in when the surface people were gone? You have to be joking...and it's a very good joke!"

Verg laughed maniacally. Suddenly, a large, high-pressure jet of water gushed down on top of his head, soaking his body and knocking him down to his knees. But Verg stood up and kept laughing.

"Is a little water supposed to intimidate me?" asked Verg. "I live in this stuff. What kind of..."

Suddenly a strong current of electricity entered his body through the shackles, made even worse by the water that he had been smothered in. He howled in a combination of rage and anguish, but did not collapse. Then another current hit him, and he sank again to his knees. The electricity stopped, and he gasped for air.

"I'm impressed, Verg." said Arkulus. "The concentration of amps and volts that you endured would have killed even the strongest human being."

"Bastard!" yelled Verg. "I'll rip your lungs out for this!"

"Save your breath, child." said Arkulus. "You are standing deep within the heart of one of my most impregnable strongholds, surrounded by miles of irradiated land. You will never escape and no help will come to you. Guards! Take this creature down to the eugenics labs with the others."

"Like hell you will!" Verg shouted.

Verg struggled to break free of his shackles, ignoring the retaliating electric currents. He shattered the chains, and struck down both of the robots guarding him. But even more machines appeared in the darkness around him. But Verg was not intimidated. He persisted in fighting his way to the nearest possible exit. He ripped apart several bots and drones when the lights in the room were turned on, revealing that flanking Arkulus' screen were two gigantic robotic behemoths. These machines both stood twenty feet high, stood on two thick metal legs, and had missile launchers and machine guns mounted on its arms and shoulders, all pointed directly at Verg.

"I am not a fool, as I anticipated that you would use brute strength to escape." sighed Arkulus. "How mindlessly predictable."

Dozens of laser sights were fixed on him now, covering his body with clusters of glowing red and green dots. Verg sank to his knees, and put his claws on his head.

* * *

In Blue-6's sickbay, more and more people were being brought in. The doctor was so busy tending to the patients that he paid no attention to Cyrus, Hayami, and Mutio. Hayami was sitting in a chair across from Cyrus' bed, while Mutio was massaging his shoulders, as she did in Hayami's room the night before.

"She sure seems to like you, Tetsu." said Cyrus.

"Yeah." said Hayami. "That she does. How are you feeling?"

"Fine." said Cyrus. "I have to stay in this bed, though. It'll be a while before I can move around the sub, even with a wheelchair or crutches."

"Yeah, I know how that feels." said Hayami. "I used to drive a motorcycle when I was in high school. One time, I crashed and shattered my left leg. I was going a hundred miles per hour on a five-lane highway during rush hour. I wasn't sure what would kill me first, the fall or the traffic. My dad was pissed. He spent seven thousand yen on the motorcycle, and threatened to break my other leg if I put so much as another dent in it."

Mutio frowned, and Cyrus noticed this.

"No parent should be like that, Tetsu." said Cyrus. "Parents should love and respect their children. And if they can't or won't, their children should be taken to people willing to raise them as their own _without_ hurting them."

"I'm not a kid, though." said Hayami.

"I didn't say you were." said Cyrus. "But any sort of abuse is something I can't tolerate. It was one of the reasons why I became a police officer."

He looked at Mutio again. Then at Dr. Foxcourt, who was tending to an unconscious crewman's leg wounds. Then at Hayami. He beckoned Mutio over to him, and she crept up to him. He patted her on the head.

"You're a good girl, Mutio." Cyrus whispered to her, before turning to Hayami. "Don't tell Pete this, but I think I have become something of a second dad to Mutio. It wouldn't be the first time."

"What do you mean?" asked Hayami.

"You remember back at Mount Weather? When I told you how I shot that man that beat his wife and kids?"

"Yeah." said Hayami.

"Well, I'm gonna tell you..." said Cyrus. "After that happened, I was so ashamed of what I did, that I did everything I could to support the wife and her children, now that her husband was dead. Giving her money, buying them clothing and groceries. Taking her kids to see movies or visit theme parks."

He sighed.

"Eventually, she and I fell in love. And then we were married."

Mutio's eyes widened.

"Yeah, that's right." Cyrus told her. "That was Maria. Julie was my stepdaughter. Not that it mattered. Neither she nor her brother were that upset about their dad being dead. And Maria was happier with me than she even was with her first husband. I pretty much did them all a big favor. But it still didn't seem right killing him like that. So I left the force a while later to be with the family."

"So what happened to them?" asked Hayami.

"Julie and Maria died during the floods..."

"And your son?"

Cyrus' face contorted near the jaw.

" _He_ didn't die, if that's what you're asking." said Cyrus. "But I'd rather not say anything else about him. It'll just open old wounds."

Mutio frowned.

"Mutio, go on." Cyrus whispered to her, softly. "I know you wanna be with Tetsu..."

Mutio obeyed, and went over to Hayami. She continued massaging his shoulders, still frowning.

"Okay, Mutio." said Hayami. "I think my shoulders are fine now."

Mutio smiled, then placed her head on his lap. Hayami stroked her long hair with his finger.

Cyrus grinned.

"Those two would make a very nice couple..." he thought to himself.

Just then, there was a cry of pain outside, followed by footsteps headed towards the sickbay's entrance. Pete walked into the room, shuddering.

"Oh, Pete." groaned Cyrus. "What the hell do you want now...?"

Then he noticed that the sleeves of Pete's jacket were both drenched in blood, and he was shaking nervously. His annoyance was quickly subsided, and he noticed Pete had an expression of both terror and disgust on his face.

"Hey, doc?" Pete said, anxiously. "Think you...you could help me with this one guy? I don't know how to move him without making his arm bleed all over! Oh my god...it's just...uhhhh!"

"Of course." said Dr. Foxcourt. "Hayami, could you check on Mr. Maeda? Make sure he doesn't bleed to death before I get back."

"Sure..." said Hayami, with a sigh.

Hayami went to check on the patient, and Foxcourt and Pete left the room. Frustrated by this sudden interference, Mutio went over to Cyrus.

"You sure like him, don't you?"

Mutio nodded, staring at Hayami.

"But he doesn't seem to think the same way as you do..."

Mutio closed and re-opened her eyes slowly, and shook her head. She started typing into her device:

"He likes me. But he doesn't have time for me."

"Apparently not." said Cyrus. "But I guess that's what happens when you're in a military force. The job comes first."

Mutio solemnly nodded in agreement.

"But don't worry." said Cyrus. "I'm sure we can find some way to get you together with him without worrying about all that other crap."

Mutio grimaced a little, and typed into her device:

"You will help me?"

"Of course I will." said Cyrus. "I'd do anything to make you happy. I'm officially your wing-man on this."

He patted her on the shoulder, and Mutio hugged him in return.

The door opened, and a crewman entered.

"We need her right now." he told them, pointing to Mutio.

Mutio turned to look at him, wondering what they could possibly need her for. Her face expressed hesitation, but Cyrus gestured for her to leave.

"It's okay." said Cyrus. "I need to rest, anyway."

Mutio went outside with the crewman, and slowly shut the door. Hayami, equally concerned about Mutio, quickly went out after them. Shortly after he left, Cyrus closed his eyes.

"What a hell of a day..." he muttered, before gradually falling asleep.

As soon as Cyrus fell into a slumber, the door opened again. In came Trey, Matt, and Amonyushuu.

"Trey, I know you don't like her..." said Matt. "But I'd like to make sure she's okay."

"Whatever, bro." said Trey, fatigued. "I ain't arguin' with ya..."

Dr. Foxcourt came back in with Pete. They were both carrying a horribly injured crewman, whose leg and arm were stained dark red with blood.

"Get out of the way, this man is very badly injured!" said Dr. Foxcourt.

"Doctor, we also have an injured Chimeran...'

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time for her. Petty Officer Murata here needs my undivided attention. If I don't do something right now, he might become infected with gangrene."

"That's okay." said Amonyushuu. "I'm not hurt too badly. I don't want to get in the way."

"Might if I take care of her for ya, doc?" offered Matt.

"Go ahead." Foxcourt said, before turning to Trey. "Would you care to help me with the others?"

Matt and Amonyushuu went over to the far end of the sickbay, behind a divider so they wouldn't be spied on by anyone else in the room. More injured people were being brought in, and Trey was busy helping the doctor with the new arrivals. Since neither Matt nor Amonyushuu had received any serious injuries, there was no need for them to checked on by the doctor. This meant they would have plenty of time to talk to each other undisturbed. Matt stood as calmly as he could, while Amonyushuu's eyes were fixed on his direction.

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Matt.

"Yes, Matt." said Amonyushuu. "I'm quite all right now."

"That's good. So what happened to ya?"

"Well, that robot shot a cable at me." recounted Amonyushuu. "I felt something pinch my arm as it wrapped around me, and an intense jolt began coursing through me."

She touched her left arm, scratching at a spot above her elbow. There appeared to be a pair of minuscule blisters right where the brown fur on her arm met the white.

"And then I blacked out." she continued. "I didn't come to until you had already saved me."

"Sounds like you got zapped pretty bad." said Matt. "Well, 'least it didn't kill ya."

"I'm glad you didn't _let_ it kill me." said Amonyushuu. "I can hardly imagine what horrible things would have happened to me if you weren't there. I think I owe you my life."

Amonyushuu tilted her head to the side while still gazing at Matt, and slowly batted her almond-shaped eyes. Matt blushed, and shifted a little in place.

"Well...yeah." he said to her, half-mumbling. "I'm glad...yeah, glad I could help ya."

"I'm going to write about it in my journal for Verg." she said to him. "Perhaps he might warm up to humans more if he knew how one put his life on the line to save me."

"Uh-huh." grunted Matt.

Amonyushuu put her hand on his jacket, which was tied around his waist due to being wet, patting the spot where Knox's revolver was concealed.

"Matt, was that the first time you ever fired a gun?" asked Amonyushuu, curiously.

"Pretty much." nodded Matt.

"How did it feel?"

"Oh, it was awesome." Matt smiled. "Actually got a couple good shots in, too. It's a badass gun. I remember my daddy sayin' that Colt Pythons are the best revolvers ever made. Think I'm lucky to have one-'specially since they stopped makin' 'em like forever ago-and I couldn't let 'em take the gun from me; I'd never get it back. That's why I kept it hidden."

"So the first time you ever shot something..." said Amonyushuu, her eyes widening. "...was to save me?"

"Promise you won't tell the others, okay?" said Matt. "I wanna keep it a surprise."

"Of course." said Amonyushuu. "You have my word. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to show you my gratitude for rescuing me."

"Is this really the time to do that, though?" Matt raised his eyebrow. "There's a lot of people hurt or dying on the other side of that wall thing."

"I don't mean right now, Matt." said Amonyushuu. "When everything is under control again, and the doctor's finished helping everyone. It's a shame that so many good people were hurt..."

She lowered her head, clasped her hands together in front of her lap, and then tapped her heels together nervously. Deciding to cheer her up, Matt placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Uh..." said Matt, who started breathing heavily. "Well, I guess we could find something to do together once the sub's secure...and there ain't too much damage."

"Like what?"

Matt shifted nervously.

"I...I dunno."

He decided to change the subject.

"So, I noticed that you're all wet." he said.

Amonyushuu inspected herself; she was still soaked to the bone from the seawater that came through the ruptured hull. Then she looked at Matt, and examined his body.

"So are you." she pointed out.

"Yeah, well." said Matt. "I ain't got a problem with that. I should probably change my clothes soon...but you're a cat, ain't ya?"

Amonyushuu nodded.

"Doesn't that stuff bother ya? I mean, I always thought cats hated water."

Amonyushuu shook her head.

"If I didn't like water, I think I would have a difficult time living in it." she told him. "I'm not as good a swimmer as Mutio or her sisters, but I can hold my breath for hours if I wanted to. I was engineered by papa to breathe underwater. I could talk underwater, too; I once recited a poem from the Manyoshu while I was walking on the surface of the Antarctic Ocean."

"Well, that's cool." said Matt. "So how much like a cat are ya, anyway? Do you...meow, for example?"

Matt made a mewling noise three times. Amonyushuu's lips twitched after the second one, and Matt couldn't tell if she was fighting the urge to laugh or join in.

"Well, do you?" Matt asked again.

"Why would I when I can talk?" she said to him.

"Okay, good point." said Matt. "D'ya eat mice or birds?"

"I can't say I've tried it." said Amonyushuu. "I mostly eat fish, fruit, and vegetables."

"Do you have claws?"

Amonyushuu lifted her hands, and showed him her fingernails. They were long, sharp, and much narrower than the fingernails of a human.

"Do these count?"

"Do you have nine lives?"

Amonyushuu looked down at Matt's jacket, and frowned. She put her hands down, and clenched them.

"I would not rather test that one."

"Do you always land on your feet?"

"Actually, I don't think I could." said Amonyushuu. "I don't think my body structure would allow it. My body is too large and too humanoid. It lacks the backbone that most cats have, my bones are heavier, and I was raised like a human instead of an animal. I probably don't have the same instincts that an actual cat would have. And furthermore..."

She went on for a whole minute about the various differences between animal and Chimeran genetic structure, even if it had become completely irrelevant to the question she had been asked, before Matt muttered under his breath:

"Wow, you really _are_ a nerd."

Amonyushuu's ears twitched, and her eyes blinked.

"Matt, what does that word mean?" she asked, confused.

"You mean 'nerd'?"

"Yes."

"Well..." Matt fumbled. "It's a guy or girl that spends all their time learnin' everything there's to know about somethin', and loves showin' off how much they know about it to everyone."

"And is that a bad thing?" asked Amonyushuu. "I'm...I'm not doing anything wrong, am I?"

She was frowning again, and her ears were folding themselves downwards.

"Well...not really." said Matt. "I mean, it just depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Well, it depends on if the person you're talking to wants to hear it. If they do, that's cool. But if they don't, you might wanna...you know, tone it down a little. Otherwise, they'll probably get annoyed and yell at you."

Amonyushuu sighed.

"That sounds...just like Verg." she said solemnly. "Verg never really paid attention to anything I had to say before papa died. In fact, he seemed to be irritated whenever I tried reading poems to him. Papa loved the poems, but not Verg."

"Aw, man." said Matt. "That's just like me. My brother never really cared about me when I was growing up. He was obsessed with hero-worshipping dad."

"Just like Verg." said Amonyushuu.

Then she gasped.

"Matt, we really aren't that different. Are we?"

"Guess not."

They both exchanged warm smiles. Amonyushuu rested her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes. Then her ears twitched, and she raised her head again. She made a small gasp.

"I hear something!" she whispered. "I think it's..."

But other than the sounds of injured personnel on the other side of the divider, there was nothing else that Matt could hear. Amonyushuu stood up so fast that it startled Matt. She peered around the divider just in time for the door to open and something to come in.

"Andrei, how are things?" asked Dr. Foxcourt.

"Where is Amonyushuu?" asked a familiar voice. "The captain needs her."

"She's at the back with Matt, behind there." said Trey.

"Thank you." said Andrei. "I've been looking all over for her. We would've called for her, but the intercom was damaged during the fighting."

Amonyushuu stepped back so that she was next to Matt, who just stood up to follow her. There were footsteps and a large silhouette appeared behind the divider. A large man with short brown hair and a beard came around the corner.

"Hello again, kid." said a voice. "I was sent to find the...what are you two doing?"

Matt turned to face the man. It was the engineer from earlier.

"Uh, I was just...checking on her." said Matt, nervously. "Makin' sure she wasn't hurt."

Andrei studied Matt's eyes and body language, then Amonyushuu's. Amonyushuu was leaning against Matt, with her hand on his shoulder and her eyes on him. He could immediately tell that something was going on between those two. But he knew it was none of his business.

"Very well." Andrei said to him. "Anyway, I was sent to take your cat-friend to the captain. And have you seen my wrench anywhere?"

"Yeah." said Matt, taking the tool out of his pocket and giving it to the man. "Here you go."

"Thank you, my young friend." said Andrei the engineer, before turning to face Amonyushuu. "Now let's head over to the captain, _da_? We have met up with some of Verg's fleet. They're expecting to hear from all of the Musuca survivors, including her."

Amonyushuu broke her gaze on Matt, and looked at the large man.

"I knew it!" she said to him. "That's so good to hear! Let's go meet them."

"Can I come, too?" asked Matt.

" _Nyet_." said Andrei. "The captain asked specifically for the Chimerans. It seems we've come across some more of them. Their Musucas are circling us right now. They want to make sure the survivors are all safe."

"Oh, that's wonderful to hear." said Amonyushuu. "Let's go now."

Amonyushuu followed Andrei. She looked back at Matt to exchange an awkward glance with him before turning to leave the sickbay.


	26. Escape From Halifax, Part 2

Sgt. Patel led everyone out of the room, cautiously taking them through a broken doorway. All was quiet on their level, but they could hear a faint crackling above; the fires outside must still be burning, and were now creeping into the building they were all in. It was a dire situation. Of the group of refugees that had entered Halifax, less than fifteen remained. Only a few of them still had weapons from before the infected people ambushed them, and they didn't have much ammunition left, either. Only Knox, Campbell, Patel, and two of his three remaining men still had firearms with compatible ammo. The others would have to make due with melee weapons or go unarmed. Some of the group were injured from the fighting and explosions, and would either limp or clutch a wounded part of their body. Thankfully, it didn't look like any of the group were bleeding; anyone that looked like they could be exposed to disease would be a high risk to the others.

"So does anyone have any ideas what those aircraft were that have been attacking us and the Chimerans?" asked Campbell as they all walked down the dark hallway. "Because I definitely haven't seen anything like them. Neither did anyone at Mount Weather. So I know they're not American."

"There was something so...otherworldly about those machines that attacked our settlement." said Sandra. "I mean those things Zorndyke's creatures used were pretty otherworldly, too. But the ones that attacked us...well, something just didn't seem right."

"You mean aside from the fact that they were killing us left and right?" said one of the other civilians.

"Of course, Darren." said Sandra, scoffing.

"They probably came from someplace in Europe." said Patel. "And those aircraft couldn't be Canadian, either. And it didn't take them opening fire on a Canadian warship for me to figure that one out."

Campbell sighed heavily.

"Maybe you guys should've waited for Blue-6 to come and pick you all up." he said aloud. "I mean, none of you should have to deal with this crap. Ya know? So many of you have already been killed or injured..."

"Nonsense, boy." said Knox. "We went in knowing that we would have to face that risk. Blue Fleet has a dangerous enemy to deal with out there in the Atlantic. There's no sense in dragging everyone else along with them. We'd just get in the way. We're not all meant to live like soldiers or sailors like your friends. Most of us just want to find a safe place to live, away from all that mess. As far as I want to believe, we chose the lesser of two evils."

"Cut the chatter, everyone." said one of Patel's men. "We can't afford to let anything sneak up on us. We need someone to cover the rear."

One of his men volunteered to do so. He turned backwards, aiming his assault rifle into the darkness they were leaving behind. But thankfully, nothing was following them. They found a stairwell that led upstairs, and traversed upwards with no opposition. They came up into a hallway on the far end of the building, overlooking another building. The city was silent, except for the crackling of fires in the distance. The air was still hot from those fires, and was making everyone feel very warm in their clothes. But they couldn't afford to take anything off. Not only were they in danger of infection, but they would still need the clothes for the cold weather they would be going into.

"What building is that?" asked Knox.

Patel examined the structure across the way from them.

"I think that's St. Aaron's Medical Center." he said. "Built seventeen years ago, replaced the-"

"So it's a hospital?" asked Sandra. "Good. We could use some medical supplies for the trip. Is there a way to get there?"

"Preferably, without swimming through the water?" asked Grant, pointing down.

The entire group looked out the windows to the water below. Laying on the partially collapsed roof of a flooded building below was the decaying carcass of what appeared to be a shark or dolphin. Campbell looked down at the creature with his binoculars, and saw its body was covered in what appeared to be lumps or tumors, and he could see even from his position that there were hundreds of flies buzzing around it.

"Oh, sweet Jesus..." said Campbell.

He looked at the rest of the group, who all had a variety of horrified or frantic expressions on their faces. All except for the marines, who were stoic and grim.

"So it looks like the disease isn't just affecting humans. Or there's another one doing the same to the wildlife."

"I would've figured as such." said Knox. "Fish were starting to become scarce up until your friends came up this way. I mean, fish that were fit to eat. We had to get our stuff through traveling merchants."

"Is there any way we can get to that building?" Sandra asked again. "Is there a walkway of some kind connecting the buildings?"

Campbell looked out the window again, and saw a very thin cable connecting the roof of the building they were in with the roof of the medical center.

"I think there might be a way across. Let's go up."

"Right." said Sgt. Patel. "You heard him."

The group went down to the other end of the hall, where they found another stairwell. They quickly climbed up the stairs. Fortunately, they did not encounter any more diseased people as they went up. However, the stairwell did not lead all the way up to the roof. They came to the top level, only to find a door that was sealed tight. Patel pressed himself against the door to listen for sounds on the other side. But he heard nothing. He knocked twice, but there was no response. He pointed his firearm at the hinges, and shot them. He heard faint tumbling noises from the other side, but the door remained in place. He kicked the door three times, but to no avail.

"Roberts, help me out." said Patel.

"Yes, sir." said one of the marines.

Patel and Roberts tried to pull the door towards them, but it was stuck tight. The rest of the group joined in, but all of them failed to make the door budge in the slightest.

"What the hell is up with this door?" Campbell panted.

"Whoever sealed it was obviously hellbent on making sure nobody went through it." said Patel. "Roberts, charges!"

Roberts opened up his pack and produced a triangular device, which appeared to be a breaching charge. Patel quickly took it from him.

"Let's see if this will do it." said Patel, planting the charge on the door. "Okay, everyone. Stand back. This will be loud and dangerous, so go down a flight or two just in case."

The others obeyed him, as the entire group went downstairs. Once Patel came down with them, he gave him the detonator for the charge.

"Let's do it." he said.

 _CLICK!_

 _BOOM!_

The door upstairs was blasted apart and bits of splintered wood and dented metal clattered down the stairwell.

"Hurry!" said Patel. "The infected might've heard us."

They rushed up the stairs to find the doorway was now cleared, apart from an abundance of debris now laying on the floor and wisps of smoke where the explosion was. They walked over the debris, passed through the smoke, and came into a large open room. In the center was a long, rectangular table with multiple chairs and stools clustered around it. On the table were plates lined up with moldy food, and cans and bottles of beer and soda. A few of the other doors in the room were boarded up, except for one.

"Looks like whoever was in here was in a hurry to leave." said Knox. "Didn't even bother to finish their meals."

Then he turned and saw the walls surrounding the destroyed doorways were covered in large text written in permanent marker.

There were rustling and creaking noises underneath the floorboards, but it was hard to determine what was causing them. And frankly, nobody in the group wanted to stick around and find out.

Patel opened the other door, which led to another flight of stairs that took them to the roof. The roof was stark and cold. They had a clear view of the burning buildings nearby. A furious wind blew over them, carrying vast sheets of ice and fog. They crashed hard against the flames, and gradually began to put the nearest ones out.

"Wow..." muttered Grant.

They all turned to look at the medical center, which was connected by a thin cable. They could make out a large makeshift ramp across the way, but it had been raised up. Then they saw something beyond the ramp: a helipad. And on the helipad was...

"Holy shit, it's a helicopter!" exclaimed Darren. "We could just fly out of here!"

There was indeed a helicopter on the helipad; a blue-and-white tandem rotor CH-97 Air Ambulance with a red Maple Leaf painted on the doors and ramp.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up, if I were you." said Roberts. "Look at the rust on the fuselage. It's been on that helipad for ages. If it could be flown out of here, someone probably would've done it by now."

"We should still check it out, though." said Sandra. "We might be able to find a way to get it started."

"How do you suggest we do that, though?" asked Roberts.

"Looks like one of us will have to cross over on that cable." said Patel. "Does anyone have experience on a trapeze?"

The rest of the group uncomfortably glanced at one another, each clearly hoping someone else would volunteer in their place. Suddenly, there were ghastly shrieking and baying noises below them.

"I don't think we have a lot of time to waste." said Campbell. "I'll go."

Just then, the door on the medical center's roof swung open, and a gunshot rang out. For a split-second they could make out a muzzle flash within the doorway, and a bullet ricocheted off the ground between Campbell's legs, just barely missing his left foot. A man, dressed all in black with gloves and a gas mask, walked out while carrying an Easthouse Model 54 whip-action rifle in his hand. He slid a clip containing five 5.56mm NATO bullets into the chamber. Then he pressed down on the rifle's hammer and jerked his hand left and right. The entire barrel of the rifle swung sideways like a door on its hinges, and then snapped back into place with an audible click. As soon as it clicked, the now-empty clip jettisoned out of the chamber with a loud _ping!._ Then he pointed the rifle one-handed at the group. Those that were armed pointed their own firearms at him in response.

"Who goes there?!" he demanded, undaunted by the other armed people. "Explain yourselves."

"Hey, take it easy." said Campbell. "We're not your enemy. We came up from Nogadsville, and we're just trying to get the hell out of here."

"Are any of you infected?"

"No, we're not!" said Campbell. "We're sure of it!"

"Good." said the man. "I've dealt with enough idiots coming this way with their infected buddies."

He walked over to the ramp, and hit a switch to lower it so that the group could cross over. As soon as everyone was on the other roof, the stranger pointed his rifle at all of them one at a time.

"What are you doing?" asked Knox. "We told you that we aren't infected."

"I'm just verifying what your friend said." said the stranger. "I have no tolerance for liars."

"Who are you?" asked Sandra.

"The name's Erik." said the man. "I'm probably the only human left in this whole damn city that's unaffected by the disease. Everyone else either succumbed to it or got their stupid asses killed. Come on downstairs, and I'll tell you all about it. Now hurry, before they come up this way."

The group went downstairs, and Erik quickly cranked the ramp back up. Then he twirled his rifle in his hand, and walked through the doorway.


	27. Escape From Halifax, Part 3

Erik led everyone downstairs. The interior of the hospital was very dark and cold. Campbell couldn't help but be reminded of his time inside the _Coolidge_. But at least there weren't any corpses in the halls, and everything was dry.

Erik gestured for everyone to enter what appeared to be a waiting room, with many chairs arranged into a circle around a table stacked with medical supplies. Everyone took a seat in the chairs.

"So, are you all sure that you're not infected?" asked Erik.

"As far as we can tell, yes." said Knox.

"Then take off your masks." said Erik.

Erik took his mask off, as did everyone else. Erik had pale skin, shaggy blond hair, and hazel eyes. He studied the hot, sweaty faces of the group.

"What are you all doing here?" asked Erik. "Don't you know it's suicidal to even be here?"

"We're trying to get to the mainland." said Knox. "We came from a settlement on Devils Isle, and thought we'd find transportation to the-"

"Well, the only way out of this city is that helicopter up on the roof." spat Erik. "But the damn thing's busted. The only guy qualified to fix it died trying to save some stupid bitch that ran off to get her pet bird from her apartment across the city, and we had to leave the safety of the hospital to save her."

"What's stupid about wanting to save your pet?" asked Campbell.

"Nothing." said Erik. "It's when you go out there unarmed on your own and get everyone else killed trying to save you that it's a problem. Especially when those people that were killed trying to save you could've gotten us all out of there by then."

"But was the bird still alive?"

"No." said Erik. "It turned out that the bird was already dead in its cage by the time Vikki decided to go looking for it. And so five decent men and women wound up getting torn apart or infected for nothing."

"That's horrible!" said Sandra.

"So what happened to her?" asked Darren.

"She was shot by George, one of the other people with us, during a later attack." said Erik. "He said it was friendly fire, but I honestly wouldn't blame him if it was just an excuse. George's brother was one of the people that got killed trying to save Vikki before, so..."

"And what happened to George?"

"He got blasted when another guy had a mental breakdown and started shooting the others with a machine gun, before accidentally killing himself when he ruptured a gas tank and brought the ceiling down on him."

"Wow, that's...that's insane." said Campbell.

"Damn right it was." said Erik. "I'm the only one that's made it. Please tell me that one of you knows how to get a helicopter fixed."

"Patterson did, but he got killed when the infected attacked us in the other building." said Knox.

Erik snarled angrily.

"But...I think I could do it." said Campbell, raising his hand as if he were in school. "I once helped my friend Desmond repair a King Stallion. Maybe I could do the same with that helicopter up there."

"But do you know how to fly it?" asked Erik.

"I do not." said Campbell. "I've never really flown a helicopter. Well, I did it once, but it was only a short distance. I don't think I could take us all the way to the mainland."

"Let's hope you can do it, then." said Erik. "Trust me, you don't want to be in this city for long. There's something about it that changes people. Not just the disease, but some kind of...presence. You feel like something is watching you, judging your every move. And sometimes, you begin to think differently. Do things you would never do under any other circumstance."

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Campbell.

"Let me show you what I mean." said Erik. "Put your mask back on."

And then after Campbell strapped his mask back on, Erik donned his again. He led him down the hall into another room. It appeared to have been a doctor's office at one point, but the furniture and equipment had been removed, damaged, or knocked over. But as soon as Erik turned on his flashlight and pointed the light at the walls, Campbell mouthed vulgar words of confusion under his breath.

Scrawled on the walls were incoherent ramblings. At first, they were written in permanent marker of various colors. But clearly, the markers ran out; The rambling continued in red stains. It didn't take even five seconds to figure out what the stains were made of. Campbell took a minute or two to read the messages, starting with the largest one on the wall:

"My entire religion was wrong. Hell is not _under the Earth_. It is in the sea. It has always been there. The sea that gave us life, now brings us all death! The demons of the sea will hunt for us until we are all destroyed. We have no hope of surviving them. Their numbers are too great. If you are reading this, you are already doomed. There is no escape, no protection, no rescue. There is only the sweet relief of death."

A message below read:

"I'm going to kill myself tonight. But I will do it in a way that takes as many people with me as possible. There is no point in any of us living now. The sea-creatures may be gone, but the plague will slowly eat away at all of us. It has already taken my beloved Tammy, and now I have nothing to live for and nothing to lose.

A third message, written in large letters, was spread across the wall next to the first:

" _I WILL COME FOR YOU ALL!_ "

Erik shook his head.

"The last two were written by the bastard that killed the rest of my group. I'm the only one left that isn't infected."

"What about the first one?" asked Campbell.

"No idea." said Erik. "It was there when we got to the building. Whoever wrote it probably offed themselves after writing that message."

He pointed at the wall on the opposite end of the room.

"Look at that one." he said, with a quiet voice. "It probably freaks me out the most."

Campbell went over to the wall, and saw a strange symbol scrawled on it, consisting of a three-eyed animal skull with horns with a line going down the bottom. Maybe a spine, or a snake's tail. Around the skull were runic letters drawn in a language that Campbell didn't recognize.

"I caught an infected person writing it in here while we were clearing the building, right before I killed him." said Erik. "We found other symbols like it throughout the city. We would also hear the infected whisper words to the symbols. Like they're praying to them."

"So they have a cult or something?"

"Maybe." said Erik. "But I don't want to stick around and find out. Let's go up and check on the helicopter now."

"Right." nodded Campbell. "Everything already freaks me out enough as it is."

They walked out of the room. Campbell saw something that made him jump, and he nearly brandished his pistol: the silhouette of a man with a cane was standing in the shadows to the left.

"What's wrong?" asked Erik.

"There's someone over there." said Campbell, pointing down the corridor.

Erik flashed his light down the middle of the corridor, but saw nothing. The silhouette had disappeared.

"What did you see?" asked Erik.

"I thought I saw that old First Nations guy...the one I saw earlier, on the way here."

"I think this place is getting to you, too." said Erik. "This whole city's nothing but trouble. Used to be a beautiful place. Now it's a flooded, war-torn, plague-ridden hell-hole."

As soon as they got up to the roof, both wearing their gas masks, they were met by the jeering and howling of the infected in the building across from the hospital. Campbell took his Glock out, and Erik his Easthouse rifle. But they couldn't find any signs of movement on the roof or the upper floors. Erik looked out at the pillars of smoke that were once burning buildings.

"I'm not even going to bother asking what caused that." said Erik. "I just wanna get the hell out of here."

"Just give me a little time to figure out what's wrong, and I'll start getting it fixed." said Campbell. "So, how did you survive out here on your own? What did you even eat?"

"The hospital kept frozen food stored for charity purposes." said Erik. "Luckily, they were stored on the higher levels, which meant they weren't lost during the floods. But the power died out a while back, so I've been eating a lot of it raw. Got sick twice, but thankfully it wasn't the plague."

"Huh." Campbell raised an eyebrow.

Campbell went to the helicopter, and examined the equipment. He tried turning the helicopter on, but there was no response. He banged on the dashboard with his fist, which caused it to fluctuate. The rotary blades began to move, but instead of rotating properly, they twitched back and forth as if something was blocking them. There was a horrid whirring above Campbell's head.

"Oh, boy." he said.

"What's the matter?" asked Erik, who was standing right outside the pilot's door.

"It looks like it'll take a couple hours for me to do this." said Campbell. "Erik, do you think you can go down and get me some power tools? Or at least a wrench and screwdriver?"

"Got it." said Erik. "By the way, do you have anywhere in mind once we get out of here?"

"Montreal."

"Why Montreal?"

"Because my mom lives there." said Campbell. "I wanna make sure she's okay."

"And the others?"

"No idea." said Campbell. "They want somewhere else to live, and I can't think of anywhere else but Montreal. I don't know if it exists anymore, and I haven't had any luck with phones. But it's still the best we've got."

"Then I wanna go with you." said Erik. "I don't really have any friends or family anymore, and my supplies are running low. At least none that are still alive."

Campbell turned to look at Erik, and nodded.

"All right." said Campbell. "You got yourself a deal."

"But don't you think we ought to tell the government about what happened here?" asked Erik. "It's only right that we let them know."

"I'm sure Patel and his men will head to Ottawa and do that for us." said Campbell. "They're marines, so..."

"Okay. I'm going downstairs, then."

Erik turned around and went back into the building.

* * *

The streets of Kansas City stretched along the ground, obscured and wet in the shadows of the many tall, neon-lit skyscrapers, as scores of gallons of rain cascaded down from the dark, cloudy skies. Colonel Michael O'Hara looked down at these streets from the president's office, located on the twenty-seventh floor of the Kansas City Presidential Tower, once the City Hall before the president and his cabinet moved in. He studied the people walking down the street with umbrellas, or dashing frantically for their destinations. He also studied the cars and trucks speeding along the road, splashing the sidewalks with rainwater as they drove through deep puddles.

O'Hara sighed calmly, and took a deep breath. Just a rainstorm. Nothing else. He was in the political heart of the United States. The only people in this city were the kind that were _supposed_ to be there. The nearest refugee disputes were at least a hundred and fifty miles away, and the city was well-protected from any and all malcontent citizens and other undesirables that would try causing an incident.

But even though humanity was no longer at war with Zorndyke's creatures, it was a matter of time before even this and other capital cities across the globe would fall into the same disarray that has swept the world.

The door to his left opened. In came President Norman Wellor and his Secret Service bodyguards. At first glance, the bodyguards seemed to wear the typical black suits and shades. But underneath the suits, as Colonel O'Hara knew, the bodyguards were wearing state-of-the-art combat armor, and had Kahr Arms M2049A1 pistols holstered on their belts.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, colonel." said the president, clutching his stomach. "I knew I should've been careful eating that casserole for dinner."

"It's quite all right, Mr. President." said O'Hara, chuckling a little. "So how are you going to take this whole...incident?"

"Well, I've fought many battles." said Wellor. "I was a veteran of the Iraq War, you know. I've had my share of wins and losses, but I'm afraid this is gonna be one of the latter. And I'm not interested in delaying it, either. I won't fight it."

He hung his head in shame.

"After all that I've had to deal with during my last term, I'm actually glad that it's all coming to an end. I can finally retire back to Wisconsin, and live with my family again, in our house along the Wolf River."

"So will the Vice President step in after you've left, sir?" asked O'Hara.

"It sure looks like it, doesn't it?" said Wellor. "I suggest you report back to Brigadier-General Wells soon, colonel."

"That won't be necessary, sir." said O'Hara. "He already knows what's going on."

"Very well. You're dismissed."

"It's been a pleasure serving you, sir." said O'Hara, giving him a salute.

O'Hara left the office, went into the elevator at the end of the hallway, descended to the lobby, and went out the front door. The rain beat down hard on his head as he passed two heavily-armored soldiers patrolling the streets. He walked around to the car park, and walked to his car. As soon as he started it up, he rolled up his sleeve, revealing a communications device. He typed a frequency code on the touchpad, and spoke into the microphone:

"All right." said O'Hara. "I can confirm the president is resigning. The American government won't be bothering you anytime soon; they'll be too busy cleaning up their own garbage to try cleaning up yours."

An aged, raspy voice emitted from the speaker.

"Excellent, colonel. This is exactly what I wanted to hear from you. Your payments will reach you soon enough."

"Whatever keeps those damn monsters in their place." said O'Hara.

He drove out of the car park, and accelerated down the street. He continued speaking, even though both of his hands were on the steering wheel.

"What _you_ are doing is God's work." O'Hara continued. "You should see how our country is. And it's all because of that crotchedly old son of a bitch Zorndyke and his lab freaks. I don't give a damn what you do to them, because I know it's what they deserve."

He sighed, and his grip on the steering wheel tightened a little. He passed by a truck that was pulled over and now being searched by soldiers. The driver was pinned to the hood of the truck, and being frisked. O'Hara scoffed, and looked back to the rain-spattered, neon-lit road ahead.

"So, did that exo-suit do anything for you?"

"It worked marvelously." said the voice. "I have already produced a few of my own based on the original's schematics. One of them actually saw use in the Miami ruins. Unfortunately, it was destroyed and the pilot captured. That leads to the next favor I want to ask of you, if you are willing to accept it."

"Yeah?" O'Hara clenched his teeth.

"The pilot was taken to Mount Weather, along with two of his accomplices. I know that you are headquartered there..."

"Yes?"

"I want you to return there and make sure they haven't told anyone about where they acquired that suit. What they know could compromise everything. They may even connect the exo-suit to the one you sent me."

O'Hara's eyes widened, and then narrowed. Inhale, then exhale.

"Very well."


	28. The Search for Verg, Part 1

The airship flew eastwards. From the bridge, Arkulus looked down at the sea.

"Lucya, what progress is there on my...project?"

"It has already taken shape, master." said Lucya's voice, over the speakers.

Arkulus entered the airship's main elevator, entered the code to move up to the highest level, stepped out, and entered a large room with a transparent cylindrical tube in the middle. Inside the tube was a humanoid body. Arkulus placed a bony, gloved hand on the tube, and exhaled through his nostrils.

"Might I ask what that is, sir?" asked Lucya.

"If it works, Lucya, you'll find out soon enough." said Arkulus.

There was a short pause.

"I understand." Lucya said, softly.

Arkulus turned to the left, and approached a nearby console. He typed in several commands on the keyboard, and the screen turned on. On the screen was the Desktop, which displayed several folders and applications. He pressed his index finger against the lower-right corner of the screen, where a folder reading "Journal Entries" was tucked away. A textbox opened up:

ENTER PASSWORD!

Arkulus typed the password, and the screen blacked out for a second, and then turned white. A list of video files were displayed before him on the screen. He pressed his finger against one labeled "2/17/53". The screen blacked out, and then Zorndyke's face appeared on the screen. His expression showed that he was distraught about something, and he was hanging his head down, so that his forehead was just a few inches away from touching the camera.

"Hello, Gregor." Zorndyke said to the camera, solemnly. "Come to check up on me, have you?"

Arkulus exhaled silently through his nostrils.

"Jung, I heard about what happened to your family." said a voice, coming from an unseen individual. "What those abominable... _men_...did was unforgivable."

"That, Gregor, is the greatest of understatements." said Zorndyke.

His eyes grew watery.

"Are you going to be okay over there?" asked Gregor.

"I don't know." said Zorndyke, softly. "I don't think there's anything left for me to be 'okay' with. My wife is dead. My son, his wife, and their daughter. All butchered by the very people I've vowed to help. Is this the thanks I get for all that I've contributed for the benefit of mankind?"

He blinked twice, and tears ran down his cheeks.

"I understand your pain, Jung." said Gregor. "I too have lost family. But there are ways to bring them back. I...can help you."

"Yes, I know all about what happened to your daughter, Gregor." said Zorndyke. "But I'm afraid that there is no way one can truly bring back those that have been seized by the unbreakable grip of Death. Not even you can do it."

"What?" asked Gregor, an uneven tone in his voice. "But...what about all the achievements we've made? The Musucas, the Kumos. Imagine what we could do with the replicant project..."

"It has to stop." said Zorndyke. "I'm sorry, my friend. But I'm afraid that it just won't be the same. My family is gone, and there is no changing that. I just don't see any point in continuing to help mankind after what I faced this past week. I've already severed all ties with my colleagues at Project Blue."

"But what about me?"

Zorndyke said nothing. He just stared ominously into the camera.

"So what will you do now?" asked Gregor.

"The only thing that I can do." said Zorndyke. "I am going to do everything in my power to help my other children."

"The Chimerans?"

"Yes." said Zorndyke, nodding his head. "I will speak with you later, Gregor. If I can bring myself to do it..."

The video ended. Arkulus crossed his arms, and muttered:

"I will prove you wrong, Zorndyke." he said. "Just give me more time..."

He turned around and looked at the body in the tube.

"Master, Verg has been successfully transferred to the eugenics labs." said Lucya.

"Very well." said Arkulus.

He approached the elevator.

* * *

Amonyushuu and Andrei walked down the corridor from the sickbay. Only twenty seconds passed before they came across a familiar face being tended to by a young Japanese woman with brown hair.

"Mr. Deidson!" gasped Amonyushuu.

"Hey!" said Deidson, clutching a gunshot wound on his arm.

"Will you be okay?" said Amonyushuu.

"I've been hit worse than this during the war." said Deidson.

"I'm just glad to know you made it."

"I would say the same about you."

"Don't worry, I've got it under control here." said the woman, smiling broadly.

"Are you sure of that, Rin?" asked Andrei.

"Yep." said Rin, waving her hand. "Now run along and see the captain."

Andrei chuckled and nodded. He beckoned Amonyushuu to continue following him. Before he was out of earshot, Rin called after him.

"Andrei! After I bring Deidson to the doc, I need to check the Grampuses and make sure those bots didn't wreck 'em. Think you can come back and help when you're done with her?"

" _Da._ Of course!" replied Andrei.

He turned to Amonyushuu.

"Rin Sagami." explained Andrei. "She and I are engineers, but also pilot the _Prawn_."

"The _Prawn_?" repeated Amonyushuu.

"It's a Grampus built for repair and maintenance. We'll have to get into it to fix the damage made to the sub's hull. Now let's keep moving, _da_?"

* * *

While Iga was speaking with the Chimerans, Yuri was placed in charge of the rest of the vessel. Blue-6 was being searched thoroughly for any remaining crab-drones still aboard.

"This deck is secured, sir." said Jonald.

"And how many casualties have we counted so far?" asked Yuri.

"Nine dead, sir. And seventeen injured." Jonald bent his head down and exhaled heavily.

" _Chyort_!" cursed Yuri. "Search the next deck."

Jonald nodded, and walked over to a nearby hatch. He opened it, and climbed down the ladder. Kino and a few other crewmen walked up to him.

"Engine room's secured." said Kino.

"Same for the reactor room." said one of the other sailors.

"How extensive is the damage?" asked Yuri.

"The tower's been hit very hard." said another crewman. "I don't think it's safe to try ascending it without proper maintenance. It also looks like we might not be able to dive underwater again without sectioning off several areas aboard the sub."

"Once we're done in Greenland, we'll have to bring Blue-6 to our nearest base." said Yuri.

"We've also counted a total of thirty-six robots destroyed."

"Well, at least that's some good news today." said Yuri. "I want the most intact one you can find brought down for examination. Maybe we can find out who sent those things to attack us."

* * *

Hayami joined Mutio and the crewman as they were brought to the meeting room. There, Iga and two armed crewmen were waiting for them. But to Mutio's surprise, there were several Chimerans already in the room with them. In addition to Levina, there were three Chimerans with both pig and canine features, each carrying crudely-made axes in their large, muscular arms. There were also two nereids, who both immediately glared at Mutio upon seeing her. They were flanking a tall, lean Chimeran wearing spiked body armor, steel-toed boots, and a brown longcoat. It was not Verg, but a monkey-like Chimeran covered in a mixture of fur and fish scales. He was twirling a long metal pole in his hands like a baton. The monkey-man had shaggy dark hair that stuck up in the back and around the ears, and he had a large underbite that jutted out from between his lips.

A small greenish-yellow parrot-like creature with leaf-shaped fox ears, a dark purple plume extended from its head like a mane and eyes of a matching color, and a feathery Pomeranian-like head with a bright purple-and-yellow bird's beak was perched on his left shoulder, like a parrot on a pirate. Mutio gasped. The bird-creature opened its wings, and flew over to a nearby seat, perching itself on the top rail.

"HWAAAHHHHK!" it screeched.

"That's an interesting bird you have there, captain." said Iga. "More of your papa's handiwork, I take it?"

Bolzano nodded.

"What's going on here?" demanded Hayami.

"Hayami, I had a feeling you'd come along with Mutio." said Iga. "It looks like we've met with the other Chimerans. There are two Musucas circling Blue-6 as we speak."

He turned to look at the monkey-man.

"This is Bolzano, captain of Musuca-12."

"And I was just thanking your captain for doing our work." said Captain Bolzano, with a gruff voice. "Those machines were meant for us. But you guys just so happened to be there, too. Boy, was that fun to watch! You let both machines get away, though. So we blew 'em up for ya. You're welcome."

His face bent into a smug grin. Hayami was immediately starting to dislike him.

"So anyway, we have to find Admiral Verg." said Bolzano. "We lost contact with the Musuca carrying him, Musuca-8, just yesterday. We think that something, like that flying machine, might have destroyed it."

"Where was Musuca-8 when you lost contact?" asked Iga.

"In the ocean, probably eight or nine kill-o-meters to the West of what you humans called 'Thule Air Base'." said Bolzano.

The bird-creature tilted its head.

"Kill-o-meters?" asked Hayami.

"Hey, lay off me!" snapped Bolzano. "I have trouble pronouncing some words. So don't rub it in!"

The bird-creature quietly made a noise as if it were snickering.

"Shut it, Trento."

"Oh, don't mind me." said the bird-creature, who spoke with a smooth, eloquent voice and a posh English accent. "I already promised you I would make no attempt to criticize your poor pronunciation of certain words."

"Good." said Bolzano, crossing his arms proudly.

"Your pet talks?" asked Hayami.

"For your information, I am nobody's pet." said the bird-creature. "I am Trento, captain of Musuca-26."

"You're a captain?!" Hayami exclaimed.

Mutio and the other Chimerans in the room nodded to verify this.

"Yes, yes, yes." chuckled Trento, ruffling his feathers sheepishly. "I don't mean to boast, but I had to go through quite a few hoops to be placed in charge of a Musuca."

"So...yeah." said Hayami. "What do you guys have planned, anyway?"

The door opened, and Amonyushuu came in.

"Ah, Amonyushuu." said Trento, spreading his wings.

He took off and hovered half a foot in front of Amonyushuu's face.

"Smashingly fantastic to see you alive and well!"

"Thanks, Captain Trento." said Amonyushuu. "Were you able to find Brother Verg?"

"Unfortunately, no." said Trento, his beak bent as if he were frowning. "But Bolzano and I already have a strategy as to how we will deal with that. Also, we still have our Musucas intact and well-manned, and we can bring you aboard either one of your choosing. You will find either one to be perfectly worthy of transporting you to-"

"Thanks, captain." said Amonyushuu. "But I think I'll stay aboard Blue-6 for now."

Trento looked at her dumbstruck, and perched himself on her shoulder. He whispered into her ear.

"Erm, are you sure about that?" he asked her quietly. "I highly recommend leaving...now. It's what your brother would want, after all. You wouldn't want him to think you're deserting us."

Bolzano nodded.

"Yeah, especially after what happened with her."

He pointed his pole in Mutio's direction.

"Though, it's probably for the best." said Trento. "Bolzano is going to be sending his Kumos to search the surface for Admiral Verg. I will be searching the water near where Verg disappeared. Either one will be very dangerous, but at least you would've been safe with us."

"I feel perfectly safe with Blue-6." said Amonyushuu.

Levina shook her head at her, and let out a low growling noise.

"Yes, I'm aware what almost happened." said Amonyushuu. "But it didn't, because the crew did everything in their power to make sure we were safe."

"Levina, I want you to stay with Amonyushuu, and make sure she doesn't get hurt again." said Bolzano. "Basically, what you've already been doing."

"And what should we do about Mutio, hmm?" asked Trento, turning his head around.

"Uh..." hesitated Bolzano. "She can stay too, I guess. At least until we find Verg."

Trento flew back to Bolzano, and perched himself back on his shoulder.

"Actually, I'm going to need both her and Giorgia." said Trento. "I'm running short of pilots for my Musuca's Kumos...especially since the other Musucas got the good ones...bother it all."

Mutio's eyes widened, and she looked at Hayami. Her lower lip was quivering.

"Hold on, bird-boy." said Hayami, approaching Trento and Bolzano. "Mutio's my responsibility. I'm not letting you just take her."

"Hayami...!" said Iga, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him back."

"Why not?" asked Bolzano, half-laughing. "She's one of us. And we're both Musuca captains. We outrank her!"

"Besides, I don't think you have a say in this." said Trento. "This is between us captains."

Then Mutio went up to the Chimeran captains, and hissed anxiously at them. She made several gestures with her hands, including pointing at Hayami a couple of times.

"Of course we know who he is." said Bolzano, before turning to Hayami. "Admiral Verg told us to watch out for you. You're lucky we were the ones that found you. Most of the other captains wouldn't have been as nice to you."

"But still, our mission is to watch over your kind and make sure nothing happens that could cause another war." said Iga. "Captain Trento, would you object if I were to send some of my Grampuses to assist you in your search?"

"Assist us?" asked Trento. "You can barely assist yourselves."

He wasn't saying this in a boastful manner, but a concerned one.

"Don't you worry about us." said Iga. "We _can_ handle ourselves. This boat still has plenty of juice in her."

"Very well, Captain Iga." said Trento. "I don't exactly have a large crew, anyway."

* * *

 **A/N** : I modeled Trento's appearance after Murugu from Yu Yu Hakusho. Hopefully, he won't turn out to be as annoying as her.


	29. The Search for Verg, Part 2

Verg found himself walking down a long corridor, flanked by robots. The walls were all glass, revealing a series of small rooms on either side. The first few rooms were lined with beds. On the beds were what appeared to be humans. Upon closer inspection, they were all horribly disfigured. Their bodies were becoming skeletal, their eyes were enlarged and pale, and their hands becoming like claws. There were suction cups on their heads, and cords connecting the suction cups to nearby medical equipment. They were struggling to break free of the cables keeping their hands and feet bound to the sides of the bed. Robotic arms were performing surgery of some kind on their bodies.

"What is this place?" asked Verg.

"Welcome to the eugenics labs, Verg." said Arkulus' voice. "What you are looking at it is my attempt to save these people, the last surviving citizens of Greenland."

"By turning them into mutants?" asked Verg.

"No." said Arkulus. "I am doing quite the opposite. I am trying to treat their mutations as best as I can. The Arctic Plague is eating away at their bodies and degenerating them into primal beasts. Many of them have already become less human than even you."

"Why not just kill them, and stop the infection?" asked Verg.

"Because they are more valuable to me alive than dead." said Arkulus. "I have previously attempted to cure their infection using almost every known treatment devised by man. Then more advanced surgical procedures and genetic manipulation. I even contemplated cloning new bodies for them, but the process would be far too time and resource-consuming. And it was difficult to find pure DNA samples, anyway. So instead, I decided that I would try something that is more appropriate for someone of my abilities. You are of course aware of my machines..."

"Yes?" asked Verg, clenching his teeth.

"Take a look into the other rooms."

Verg continued down the corridor and peered through the glass. There were more rooms with beds. But the people laying on them were still recognizably human, albeit with ruddy patches of skin and other minor deformities on their body. They were sleeping soundly, despite the machinery around them whirring loudly. Their heads appeared to have helmets on them that were connected to a nearby terminal by cables. On the other end of that room were a row of platforms with robotic endoskeletons laying on them.

"What is this?" growled Verg.

"I am attempting to transfer their brainwaves into robotic shells." said Arkulus. "Their bodies are infected by the plague with no hope of being cured, but their minds are still perfectly intact. It won't be the same as having an organic body, but at least they will have another chance at life."

"So you're going to create a race of machine people?" asked Verg. "How thrilling. So how much did those ones struggle before you forced them to do this?"

"I'm not forcing any of them to undergo this treatment." said Arkulus. "All of them chose to go through this process, even though there is a high chance that they won't survive the transition. I have already conducted three tests. The first two were complete failures, and the third was only moderately successful; only three of the six test subjects survived. I will not let any die this time."

"Good for you."

As Verg continued down the corridor, Arkulus' voice followed him.

"So do you feel anything about what you've seen?"

"No." said Verg. "Do you expect me to feel sorry for those people just because they got sick? All you've managed to do was waste my time. I'm going to escape from this place, and none of your tin cans will be able to stop me."

"Verg, have you ever heard of...Chernobyl?" asked Arkulus.

"No." growled Verg.

"About seventy years ago..." said Arkulus. "A horrible disaster occurred in the Ukraine. A nuclear power plant was ruptured, spreading radioactive waste for miles and miles. Entire cities were evacuated, declared uninhabitable by the government. Animals, both wild and domestic, that stayed behind had to hunted down and killed. Workers had to be sent in to clean up the mess."

Arkulus grunted dismissively.

"'Bio-robots', they were called. They were given less than a minute of exposure to the radiation before being replaced, lest they succumb to the harmful effects. But that is nothing compared to the horrid mutations and birth defects that occurred among the people that lived in that region. Missing limbs, abnormal growths, mental illness, eyes growing below the sockets, and so many that I cannot begin to describe."

"So what is the point that you are trying to make?" asked Verg.

"The point is that few would dare live in Greenland. To be outside for too long would mean death for most organic life. That is why I have chosen to use this area to construct my mechanical creations."

"Why bother?" asked Verg. "Machines will never be as good as a Chimeran. We can learn and do so much. A machine can only do what it's programmed to."

"Robots are not as vulnerable to radiation, mutation, or ailment as your typical human...or even Chimeran. Besides...if I recall, your creator used programming of his own for your fellow Chimerans. To make sure your navies fight and follow orders as they are supposed to."

Verg's eyes blinked.

"Hmm...so you know something about papa? Maybe so, but I was never programmed or raised by his machines. Papa himself raised me. He knew that I would be a glorious leader. I still remember how he used to shower me with praise...until my sister learned to speak, and stole his attention. All the effort I put into slaughtering his enemies, and he hardly ever smiled. And he seemed to think that I couldn't take care of myself. Always told me to be careful. To return home safely."

"Do you resent him, then?"

"No!" snapped Verg. "Don't you dare suggest such a thing!"

The robots aimed their weapons at him threateningly.

"It seems I have touched a nerve." said Arkulus, calmly. "Very well. It is obvious that you don't. But what about your sister? Do you resent her?"

Verg clenched his teeth.

"That's none of your business."

They came to a large and spacious elevator, which Verg and the robots entered. There was a large, vertical glass slit on the opposite wall from the door Verg could look through. He looked through the glass, and saw that the sky was dark and had a greenish tint. The ground below was rocky and dotted with small pools of greenish, goopy liquid that let off small vapors. Verg examined a large, heavily-armored robot crawling on six legs towards one of the bigger and deeper pools, positioned just so that Verg could look straight down at it. It stuck a long, thin tube into the liquid, and began draining the pool.

"I'm going to get out of here, Arkulus." Verg muttered under his breath. "Radioactive waste or not."

But as the pool drained, he began to make out dozens, then scores, and then hundreds of human and animal bones laying at the bottom. Even though he had seen his share of corpses and skeletons, even kept some aboard the Phantom Ship during the war, Verg couldn't help but feel slightly taken aback.

* * *

The Chimerans were about to disembark from Blue-6, except for Levina and Amonyushuu. Hayami decided to see Mutio off. Just as Mutio was about to dive through one of the holes made by the machines, she turned around and crawled up to Hayami. Hayami stooped over so that his face was level with hers.

"H...Ha...yami!" Mutio groaned sadly.

"Don't worry, Mutio." said Hayami. "I'll be right behind you."

Mutio smiled weakly, and then slowly opened her mouth.

"Rea...lly?" she stammered.

Hayami nodded, and Mutio smiled. But then her face subsided a little.

"Cyrus..." she muttered.

"Oh, don't worry about him." said Hayami. "I'm sure he'll be fine. He'll understand what's going on."

Giorgia and another nereid climbed back in through the hole, and angrily hissed at Mutio to follow them.

"See you in a few." smiled Hayami.

Mutio smiled back, then dove in the water with her sisters. Hayami heard many footsteps behind him. Matt, Rockefeller, Amonyushuu, Levina, Luke, and Kino were all behind him.

"Time for us to get to the Grampus." said Kino. "Are you okay, Hayami?"

Hayami smiled a little.

"Never better."

"Haven't see you smile like that in months." said Kino. "Well, the other Grampus pilots are all getting ready. Since the new Grampus is still busted, we're going to be using the Seele."

"Great..." muttered Hayami. "I was missing that old hunk of junk."

The Seele was the original Grampus that Kino and Hayami piloted during the Antarctic War. The one they used the day Hayami saved Mutio in Tokyo, all the way to when Hayami killed Zorndyke and ended the war. It had been undergoing repairs since the uprising in Jamaica, but now it was ready to see action once again.

* * *

Trento and Bolzano returned to their Musucas, as did the various other Chimerans. Musuca-12 and Musuca-26 stopped circling Blue-6, instead turning North. Blue-6 followed. Aboard Musuca-12, there was a chaos of howling and screeching from Bolzano's crew.

"All right, everyone!" said Bolzano. "Listen up! Amonyushuu's aboard Blue-6, so whatever you do: Don't let anything happen to those humans while she's aboard!"

"Verg will not like this!" protested one of the crew.

"Well, Verg ain't here!" countered Bolzano.

"What were you thinking letting them keep her, sir?!" demanded an avian humanoid.

"I'm sure the captain's got a reason for it..." said a short, squat Chimeran.

"Yeah, that he's got a death-wish!" argued back the bird-man. "How did he ever get placed in charge of us again?"

"Because we lost all our good captains during the war, remember?" reminded the first Chimeran.

There was a brief pause.

"Yeah, that makes sense." said the bird-man.

Several of the other crew members began to murmur and chitter in agreement. Bolzano loudly banged the floor with his pole to bring everyone's attention back to him.

"Quiet!" he snapped. "All of you! You're all so fuss-trating!"

Some of the crew members start laughing, including the bird-man. Bolzano growled, and then whipped out a flintlock-like handgun from under his coat and pointed it straight at the bird-man. He cocked the hammer, and the bird-man nervously stared straight into the barrel, like a deer caught in a car's headlights. Everyone was silent.

THUNK!

The bird-man felt a booted foot hit him square in the chest, and the force of the kick almost knocked him out cold, but he was able to stand back up after ten seconds. Once he did, Bolzano twirled the gun in his hand, and put it back under his coat.

"All right, now get in your Kumos! We're going ashore, and we'll probably face a lot of dangerous terrain! Not to mention more of those machines."

"You heard the captain!" shouted an otter-man. "Into the Kumos!"

A dozen of the Musuca's crew went through narrow slots in the Musuca's interior, and there was a sound of heavy machinery at the bottom of these slots.

Twelve large objects shot out from the sides of Musuca-12, speeding towards the shores.

* * *

Captain Trento stood atop a small perch in the center of the organic bridge of Musuca-26. With his large purple eyes, he scanned his crew, which consisted mainly of smaller Chimerans, but there were also a few nereids and others of similar stature. Among them were Mutio and Giorgia. Trento landed on a stand in front of all of them, and cleared his throat.

"Pardon me, everyone." said Trento. "I need all crew members that are capable of operating a Kumo to prep themselves immediately. We are going to be searching the ocean for any sign of Admiral Verg, and it will be very likely that we will be attacked by more of those machines. I will need the rest of you to stay aboard with me, in order to protect the Musuca. Now hop to it, everyone. Or crawl, or walk, or however it is that you move without wings."

He was met with various yowls, screeches, and hisses, some of which seemed irritated.

"Cease your blabbing. I'm your captain, so you need to take orders from me!" Trento spoke loudly over the clamor. "Unless any of you have any better ideas, I suggest you get moving."

None of the Chimerans said anything. In fact, none of his crew _could_ say anything; none of them had the physical capability of speaking human languages normally. It was most likely one of the reasons why they were even part of Trento's crew; Bolzano, Zara, and the other captains had taken most of the English-speaking Chimerans that went northwards with Verg for their own Musucas. But at least Trento could still understand his crew.

"Musuca, take us down!" Trento said, raising his head. "Forty-five degrees! Everyone else, get to your positions!"

The Musuca descended into the water. The bridge was immediately filled with water. The more fish-like Chimerans opened their gills to breathe. Tiny crevices opened under Trento's feathers, as he opened his wings. They slowly bent so that his wingspan formed an "M" shape, and he detached from the perch. He slowly began to float in the water, and then he beat his wings to propel himself out of the central and largest hole to the outside. He watched the Kumos detach from Musuca-26, and speed into the deep blue depths beyond.

"Best of luck to all of them." he thought, bending his beak into a smile.

Then he swam back into the Musuca's bridge. The holes in the bridge sealed themselves with a sort of translucent brownish covering so that the water was contained. Trento ordered the Musuca to drain the water in its bridge into cavities on the floor. The water-based Chimerans went into the small pools of water that formed during the draining, while those that were accustomed to land stayed on the dry, fleshy platforms. Trento flew back to his perch. Just in time, as a large shadow passed over the Musuca. Trento immediately knew what it was, and winced as he realized he had sent the Kumos too far ahead from the Musuca. But he regained his composure immediately.

"Musuca, full speed ahead." he said. "Prepare for combat."

A small humanoid seahorse Chimeran behind Trento tooted his horn as if to signal a charge.

* * *

 **A/N** : Yes, there do exist some species of birds that can both swim underwater and fly in the air, such as puffins. Lots of action is coming in the next chapter, so hang tight!

To hold people over while I work on the next chapter, I made a playlist for this story on Youtube. I hope my readers will enjoy the selection of music.

/playlist?list=PL85U4y1qTBhdE67oeuHkQRXpH_JmCtB7l


	30. The Search for Verg, Part 3

Another ground-effect vehicle came into view, passing ahead of Musuca-26. This time, it opened hatches in the side, and several dark shapes dropped out of them and into the water among the Kumos.

"Oh dear, oh dear." muttered Trento, wide-eyed.

* * *

Mutio gasped as she watched at least thirty or forty dark figures dropped into the water all around her and the other Kumos. Some of the Kumos slowed down, and unfolded their limbs to defend themselves. One of the dark shapes dropped directly in front of Mutio's Kumo, allowing her to see what they were: humanoid, about six or seven feet tall. Covered in sleek black armor with curved spikes on the helmet and shoulders, glowing red visors illuminating what would otherwise be a blank and featureless faceplate. There were large jetpack-like motors attached to its back, and it held a strangely-shaped assault rifle with a curved box magazine loaded behind the grip. It aimed right at her, and fired a barrage of flechettes that rippled towards her through the water.

Mutio moved one of the claws of her Kumo to block the projectiles. While they punched holes and dents in the claw's metal, no major damage was made. She moved the Kumo's other claw to strike strike her assailant, but its motorpack started, and it sped upwards, evading her attack. For a brief moment, Mutio saw that the other Kumos were swinging their claws and firing their needleguns at the other attackers, but the attackers were far more agile and numerous than the Kumos' projectiles. Several Chimerans that were flanking the Musucas swam towards the attackers, and engaged them with spears, harpoons, and other melee weapons. The armored attackers shot at them with the rifles, and riddled them with metal darts. The Chimerans that were killed began to float up to the surface or sink into the black depths below, their blood leaking out of the bodies and into the seawater, dyeing it red.

Mutio hissed angrily, and drove her Kumo forward, attacking her enemies head-on. She grabbed two of the attackers with her claws, and squeezed them both until they were snapped in half. She watched as their bodies emitted sparks of electricity where they were split: _They were machines!_

Mutio let her eyes widen as several more of the robotic soldiers surrounded her, all aiming their underwater rifles. As they opened fire, Giorgia's Kumo came down on them, and rammed clean through them with impressive efficiency, destroying them. The two sisters went forward in a spiral formation, screwing through the army while firing their needleguns. But the robots evaded them and activated their motorpacks, zipping through the water towards Blue-6.

Alarmed, Mutio broke formation and turned to chase after the soldiers. Other Chimerans tried the same, but they were too slow to catch up to them. The robots were coming closer to Blue-6, when suddenly a large sonic wave rippled through the water, causing the robots' motorpacks to overload and explode. The Orcea, the Grampus piloted by Estella and Jonald, drifted into view. As the robots turned to fire their weapons, the Orcea fired a barrage of torpedoes that destroyed the whole group.

Now that the robots were all destroyed, the ground-effect vehicle circled back to engage Blue-6 on its own. Sitting on his perch, Captain Trento observed the hovercraft's shadow nearing his Musuca. The small bird bent his beak into a smile as he observed his airborne adversary's trajectory.

"Oh, I've got this one." he said, snickering to himself. "Trento, you clever bird."

He tilted his head up.

"Musuca, spear it! Now!"

Musuca-26 lumbered down into the depths, then after building momentum swung up to the surface, emerging underneath the ground-effect vehicle like a tower jutting out of the water. It smashed its large grayish bulk into the rudder of the hovercraft, causing it to spiral out of control and crash into the ocean. As the Musuca collided with the hovercraft, its crew were shook around by the g-forces, a couple of them even getting smacked into the bridge's membranous walls. Trento himself wasn't immune to it. Due to his small size, he likely would've been seriously injured if one of his crew hadn't grabbed him by the tail feathers just before he was knocked into a narrow wall cavity, which would've surely closed and crushed him. His purple eyes were spinning wildly, as he dizzily said:

"Confirmed hit. Well done, Musuca...Now someone help me back to my perch."

Outside the Musuca, the Seele rushed past the Orcea and shot torpedos into the submerged hovercraft, finishing it off for good.

"That takes care of that one." said Kino, from the co-pilot's seat of the Seele.

"Uh-huh." grunted Hayami in agreement from the pilot's seat. "Now let's go-"

But before he could finish his sentence, four large machines emerged from the wreckage of the hovercraft. They looked like a mixture between Kumos and the robots from Nova Scotia.

* * *

"Wow, I can't believe that stupid bird did it!" shouted Captain Bolzano, looking out from the open hatch of his Kumo.

He and his complement of Kumos from Musuca-12 had just reached the shores of Greenland, and had watched Musuca-26 ram into the ground-effect vehicle.

"Well, that takes care of that problem." said Bolzano, climbing back into his Kumo. "Now let's go look for Admiral Verg."

* * *

Amonyushuu was sent back to the Chimerans' quarters, escorted by two of the submarine's crewmen. She was carrying a small stack of magazines and technical manuals. Matt walked in, his jacket still tied around his waist. He looked somewhat relieved and happy to see her.

"So you're still here, huh?" he asked her, surprised.

Amonyushuu nodded.

"But what about them Musucas?" asked Matt. "Won't they want ya to come back with 'em?"

"I'm friends with Captain Trento." said Amonyushuu. "He's in charge of one of the Musucas outside. He told me it was fine that I stayed here, at least until they found my brother. The Musucas tend to become embroiled in combat, and I'm no fighter."

Matt grabbed a nearby chair, dragged it so that it was right beside Amonyushuu's, and sat down. The two crewmen stood guard outside the room.

"Well, I'll stay with ya." said Matt. "Ya know, to protect ya if any more of 'em robots come aboard."

He produced two bottles from under his jacket. One was plastic and filled with soda. The other was white and made of glass. He took a swig from the former and handed the latter to Amonyushuu.

"It's milk." said Matt. "Got it from the mess hall. I figured since you're a cat, that'cha might wannit."

"That's so sweet of you, Matt." Amonyushuu smiled.

She opened the bottle, and drank from it. She shuddered with delight after her second sip.

"It's...wonderful." she groaned aloud. "Mmmmm..."

She gave Matt a small, very crooked smile.

"So..." Matt hesitated, as he looked into those brown eyes. "What are you reading?"

Amonyushuu looked at the magazines again.

"Just something that Rin and Andrei gave to me." she explained. "They went out on the Prawn just a couple of minutes ago."

"I see..." said Matt.

"Would you like to read them with me?"

"Sure, why not?" nodded Matt, grinning and chuckling a little.

They started reading through the magazines.

She randomly grabbed a magazine from the pile, titled Electronics Weekly. She opened it up and scanned the front cover with her eyes. The issue was from December 2053, just a few months before the floods began. The story contained a two-page article about a robotics expert. Amonyushuu decided to skim through it, hoping she would find some clue as to who (or what) created the machines that attacked Blue-6.

"Of all the pioneers in robotics engineering, there are few that are as distinct as the Machine King himself, Dr. Gregor Tornovich. Tornovich, who celebrated his 85th birthday last June, was born in Kiev, Ukraine in 1968. He was diagnosed with Marfan's syndrome at the age of eleven, which resulted in an abnormally tall and slender physique. His family moved to Minsk, Belarus in 1982, and then emigrated to the United States in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. After years of employment at such computer companies as Commodore, IBM, and Apple, Tornovich eventually founded Eternal Robotics, a hardware and software developer, in 2008. He later came to prominence in 2023, when he developed EROS (Eternal Robotics Operating System), an advanced computer operating system that was promised to remain compatible with and supported for all PCs for decades to come. EROS was a massive critical and financial success, and managed to outstrip Microsoft Windows 11 and macOS Navajo sales in North America, Europe, and Asia, earning Eternal Robotics $55.4 billion in the first month alone.

"On July 22nd 2033, the tenth anniversary of EROS' debut, Tornovich introduced KANA, one of the first fully sentient manmade automatons, to the public. KANA stood three feet tall, was fluent in six languages (English, Spanish, French, Russian, German, and Japanese), and could compose music, and interact with its surroundings like any human being. Four months later, KANA was damaged beyond repair during a break-in of Tornovich's residence in North Dakota, during which his wife Dominique was hospitalized and his daughter fatally shot and killed. To avenge these losses, Tornovich vowed to resurrect his daughter through the most complex AI system ever created by mankind, which would share her name. As of this article's writing, this AI has not yet seen the light of day and it is doubtful it ever will."

Amonyushuu almost dropped the magazine when she saw the photograph on the second page of the interview. It was a picture of a tall, thin elderly man with matted black hair shaking hands with...

"Papa…" she whispered.

"What?" asked Matt.

"The man in this article knew Papa." said Amonyushuu.

"He did, huh?"

Matt read the paragraph below the photo:

"On September 19th 2045, Tornovich met Albanian scientist and Project Blue member Dr. Jung Zorndyke in New York City, and formed a partnership with  
him. Zorndyke, who had perfected the Chimeran cellular combination procedure a few years prior, agreed to collaborate on the production of a series of  
automatons that could think, live, breathe, even bleed like organic beings. After his family was tragically killed during the Albanian Uprising, Zorndyke  
grew disinterested in collaborations, and their partnership ceased completely. Recently, Tornovich retired from the public, in order to focus on his newest  
projects in the privacy and safety of his Iceland retreat."

"I wonder if this Torno-guy might know a thing or two about those robots..." mumbled Matt.

* * *

Arkulus stood at the bridge of his airship, looking down at the ocean below. He was deep in thought about something. Lucya's voice chimed in.

"Is there something wrong, master?" asked Lucya.

"It's Verg." said Arkulus. "He has proven to be of no help whatsoever. A lost cause. He may have been raised by Zorndyke, but he does not share his intelligence, nor his wisdom."

"Perhaps the other Chimeran child would have been more useful?"

"Of course, Lucya." said Arkulus. "If only Paolo would have brought her to me."

Then he heard a notification sound cue from a nearby terminal. Arkulus turned around and walked towards the terminal. He checked his email, and saw there was a new message from Aksel Elgen, the CEO of Elgen Electronics.

Arkulus opened the e-mail, which was in Norwegian. He toggled the Translator button, which switched the text to English, and read it:

"Gregor, we have bad news as well as good news. The bad news is the border conflict is worsening by the day. Sweden has threatened to dispatch their Berzerker Corps. into Norway. I guess they've given up on diplomacy, and instead decided to put their Berzerker units to the ultimate test against our country's military. But there is still hope for the people of Norway; I am pleased to inform you that the Jügerhauser has finished testing, and was a complete success. We are expecting our government to unleash the first unit into Swedish territory soon. It will take more than a few psychoactive super-soldiers to bring it down. It is so powerful. None of this would have been possible without your expertise in robotics. Thank you for everything."

Somewhat uplifted by this message, Arkulus began to compose a response to it when an alarm sounded.

"What is this?" Arkulus demanded.

"Master, it seems Verg is trying to escape." said Lucya. "He has destroyed the robots guarding him, and is trying to reach the exit."

"..." Arkulus bent his head down, and looked at the cold metal floor.

"What should I do?" asked Lucya.

Arkulus tightened his fists.

"Activate security protocol Alpha 2-1-5. Do not allow him to escape under any circumstances."

"Yes, master." said Lucya.

"And activate NEROC. He is needed. This foolish animal must not disrupt my work."

"Affirmative." said Lucya, softly.

* * *

The alarm was sounding through the corridor. Verg was bounding down the corridor on all fours, dodging gunfire from the turrets on the walls. Doors opened, and more robots came out of them to confront Verg, guns pointed forward. Verg reached up and tore a large panel from the ceiling. He held it in front of him like a shield, protecting him from the bullets. However, they were beginning to penetrate the plating, so he dove through the glass into one of the operating rooms. As he went through, he damaged several terminals and other machinery. An alarm blared, and Lucya's voice was broadcasting from the loudspeakers on the walls.

"Warning! Containment breach in Lab 2-1! Containment breach in Lab 2-1!"

The infected humans strapped to the operating platforms broke free. They quickly climbed off the platforms, howling and hissing and glaring at Verg with pale eyes under drooping eyelids. They all pounced at him, grabbing his arms and legs. However, Verg was able to shake them off with little effort. He grabbed one of them by the neck, and tossed it into the central corridor. This caused a brief distraction as the security robots ceased firing their guns and pursued the infected human to detain it. Verg seized the opportunity to knock down the door on the opposite side of the room. He charged out into another corridor, where the other infected humans briefly followed him before spreading into the other connected rooms. More robots were coming into the corridors, but Verg knocked them down. He ripped an arm from one of the robots, and used it as a club to bludgeon its own chassis.

After he destroyed the machine, he continued northwards, towards a blast door. He pummeled it as hard as he could, but to no avail.

* * *

Arkulus observed Verg's activity via security camera.

"Lucya, activate the nerve gas defenses in Sector Two, Corridor Three."

"Are you sure?" asked Lucya. "There are humans in that corridor as well. They may not survive the dosage required to..."

"I said 'activate them'. Immediately."

* * *

Verg stopped attacking the door, and turned around when he heard a faint hissing sound. Pale green vapor seeped into the corridors from tiny holes in the walls. He saw the infected humans behind him gag and choke, before passing out on the cold metal floor. Verg growled as he looked around for a possible escape route.

* * *

 **A/N** : Sorry about the delay in getting this chapter out, but I've been focusing on other stuff lately. I am going to be taking a short break from this story, but I expect to return to it soon enough. In the meantime, leave a review telling me how you feel about the story so far.


	31. The Search for Verg, Part 4

The Seele raced towards the submerged ground-effect vehicle, from which four large machines emerged and accelerated towards Blue-6. The Seele tried to intercept the leader, but was too slow. Then Giorgia in her Kumo tried the same, but was intercepted herself by one of the three other machines. In an instant, the claws of her Kumo were locked with the claws of her attacker.

"That Kumo must not get in the others' way!" shouted a voice from Giorgia's Kumo's radio frequency. "He who is known Franchesco shall make sure of that."

The leader's other two followers engaged the other Grampuses and Kumos in battle. Mutio's Kumo and the Seele Grampus were the only ones that could pursue the leader unscathed. Mutio reached it first, and grappled it from behind, weighing it down significantly and making it difficult for the other pilot to steer.

"Get off! Get off!" demanded a crackling voice on Mutio's frequency, which she immediately recognized as Paolo's. "Release me, or I will obliterate you!"

Paolo's underwater mech steered out of control, and just barely missed hitting Blue-6's hull. Then he broke free, and peppered Mutio's Kumo with his needlegun. Her Kumo was damaged, but was still far from destroyed. She struck at Paolo's needlegun with her claw, and snapped it off.

"I demand to know who you are!" yelled Paolo's voice.

Mutio grabbed the speaker, and angrily hissed back in response.

"Oh, it's you." said Paolo. "You're going to die today, Mutio. And when I'm done with you, I'm going after your human friends!"

* * *

Pete and Rockefeller looked out at the ocean as they stood at the hole in the upper deck, guns in their hands.

"Well, that was some intense shit right there." said Pete. "Did you see the way that Musuca smashed that flying thing apart? That was some crazy intense stuff."

"Yeah, it sure was." said Rockefeller. "I just hope we don't get more machines pouring in."

Trey came up behind that. He looked upset about something.

"Trey, how's things with the doc?" asked Rockefeller.

"Fine. We've got everything taken care of..."

"Then why do you look so pissed?"

"It's Matt." said Trey. "He's with that cat-girl again."

"And what's the problem with that?" asked Rockefeller.

"I don't want him doing anything stupid with her." said Trey. "Especially with those other hybrids around. Besides..."

"You don't want your brother to be a furry, either." said Pete. "Is that it?"

He laughed, and Trey exhaled through his nostrils.

"Just shut up and watch out for those machines." Trey said.

He turned to go back to the sickbay, muttering "Fat asshole." under his breath. Neither Pete nor Rockefeller heard him say it, though.

"Speaking of machines." said Pete. "I hope if we do run into more of them, that at least one of them will be female."

Rockefeller looked blankly at him.

"Why?"

"Because if Hayami can get a fish-girl and Matt can get a cat-girl...then damn it, I want a robot girl." said Pete. "All these machines running around? I'll be pissed if whoever's making them didn't make some fembots or gynoids or whatever they wanna call them too."

"Robot girl, huh?" asked Rockefeller. "I'm surprised you didn't want Giorgia or Levina. Or even Mutio."

"Probably because I'm from Miami, Florida and _not_ Innsmouth, Massachusetts." said Pete. "I am not going to shack up with a fish, or anything resembling a fish. Definitely not some werewolf-looking chick either...even if she does look pretty cool. I'm allergic to dogs. Besides, I don't want to be mistaken for a furry, either."

"But you have no problems with feeling the same way about robots?"

"Nope."

"That's fine, I can relate to that." said Rockefeller. "I was actually hoping I could one day install some kind of AI with a sexy female voice into the King Stallion, before that damn turtle-man destroyed it. Of course, it wouldn't have been the King Stallion anymore. It'd be the Queen Mare."

He and Pete chuckled.

"Then let's hope we get what we want."

Suddenly, there were a series of explosions underwater. A large machine that resembled a Kumo emerged from underwater, causing Pete and Rockefeller to panic and run away from the opening, shooting back at the machine as they did so. Several Blue-6 security officers with rifles ran up to the hole, and fired at the machine with rifles. The mech was about to reach into the hole to grab them, but Mutio's Kumo emerged from underneath and pushed up to the top of Blue-6.

* * *

"Captain, we've got a hostile machine on top of Blue-6!" said Yuri, looking through the periscope.

"Then we need to tell the crews to get back to the deck guns!" said Captain Iga.

"Negative, sir!" said Yuri. "Looks like there's a Kumo up there fighting it! We might end up hitting by accident."

"We don't want to make the Chimerans angry, either." said Iga. "And we're still too damaged to dive."

"Sir! Someone's taken Levina's Kumo out of the Grampus bay!" shouted a crewman.

* * *

Mutio and Paolo's mechs grappled with and shoved at each other, trying to knock one another off the submarine.

"I will make you all pay for what you did to my legs!" shouted Paolo. "And for what you did to Marcello! A true genius, taken before his time."

Mutio gasped. She knew who Marcello was. He was the Chimeran captain of the _Pyramid_ , one of Zorndyke's advanced military vessels. After Zorndyke's death, Marcello had attempted to use Sub Zero's nuclear arsenal to detonate Zorndyke's pole shift device. However, the combined efforts of Blue-6 and Verg had destroyed Marcello and his crew.

"Feel my pain!" Paolo shrieked furiously.

Paolo's mech opened its claws, which started to crackle with electricity. He grabbed Mutio's Kumo by its arms, and the Kumo's armor was engulfed an intense voltage of electricity. Mutio screamed as the electrical energy surged through her cockpit. The pain was so intense that she nearly passed out. Thankfully, the Kumo's protective silvery fluid filled the cockpit's interior, protecting her from the voltage. However, her Kumo was still heavily damaged by the attack. Her tried operating the controls, but they were extremely delayed. Moving the claws took much longer than before, and she couldn't get her needleguns to fire. Her audio receivers picked up a strange noise that was becoming louder and more high-pitched with each passing second. The front of Paolo's mech began to glow with a green light: He was charging up some kind of weapon.

"Power...at maximum!" Paolo howled furiously.

Then there was a loud thumping noise behind her. There was a strong tug on Mutio's Kumo, that caused it to tumble back into the sea, just as a large beam of concentrated green energy shot out from Paolo's mech. The blast missed Mutio and Blue-6, but went down into the water. Musuca-12, which was standing just below the water's surface, was ripped to pieces by the sheer power of the blast, and ionized within seconds. None of the Chimerans that were aboard even stood a chance.

* * *

Captain Trento, who was back on his perch in the bridge of Musuca-26, screeched loudly in horror as he watched Musuca-12 disintegrate in the blink of an eye, and his crew all screamed and shrieked in their bestial voices. Trento's plume, wings, and tail feathers were all standing on end, and he was gripping his perch as hard as he could with his talons. The only thing stopping him from calling a full retreat was the comfort knowing that Bolzano, his Kumo pilots, and Trento's own Kumos were nowhere near the Musuca when it happened. But he was still at a complete loss for words.

* * *

"What the hell was that?!" Captain Iga shouted.

"It looks like the machine just fired some kind of energy weapon at one of the Musucas." shouted Yuri. "I haven't seen anything like it!"

* * *

Paolo laughed maniacally as he watched his beam destroy the Musuca. Despite missing his intended target, he was still

"It's...more beautiful than I could've imagined." he said, breathlessly.

Then his mech's audio receivers picked up a loud noise. Not a bestial scream of fury, nor radio chatter...but a rock song.

 _"_ _HERE I AM!_ _"_ blared the song.

Another Kumo emerged where Mutio fell, and climbed up Blue-6. It opened its claws, and clacked them fiercely.

 _"_ _ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE!_ _"_

Paolo braced his own mech for combat, but he found that he could barely control it. The controls were either delayed or unresponsive. The energy weapon must have drained most of his mech's energy.

"Shit!"

The Kumo bounded towards him, battering him repeatedly with its claws and slashing with its blades. All Paolo could do with move backwards, but there was still nothing he could do to stop the blows. The Kumo kept hitting him until he was at the bow of the submarine, overlooking the bridge. Then the Kumo stopped, and crawled backwards as the deck guns of Blue-6 opened up. Paolo howled in rage, as the guns barraged his mech with bullets and shells. He found himself tumbling back into the sea.

As he sank into the depths of the Atlantic, he tried adjusted his radio frequencies.

"Franchesco! Zyx! Nax!" he shouted. "Open fire on Blue-6! Fire now!"

But it was pointless, as his communication systems were too damaged to send any transmissions. All he could do was activate a distress beacon so that the other three would disengage from combat to retrieve him. But before he could press the button, a lone nereid with red eyes swam down after him.

"Mutio..." he growled at her, glaring intensely.

Mutio glared back at him, continuing to pursue him as he sank even further down. Eventually, he hit the ocean bottom, where he was completely defenseless and the impact caused water to slowly fill up his cockpit. Mutio circled his mech, pondering what to do with her defeated enemy.

"Not sure what to do, are you?" asked Paolo. "I'll give you something to think about."

He opened a panel in his cockpit, and activated the emergency power. He pressed the Eject button on the vehicle's disc player. He took out a compact disc and showed it to Mutio.

"This is a recording from the Phantom Ship's databanks, during the Antarctic War." said Paolo. "I'm sure it won't take you long to figure out what is being discussed. Do you remember your beloved Red Spot?"

Mutio's eyes widened with shock. Paolo put the disc back in the player, and pressed the Play button. The mech's external speakers played a recording.

"Boss!" shouted a Chimeran voice. "Musuca-22 is approaching the Blue Fleet!"

"What?!" yelled back Verg's voice.

"If he maintains his current heading, he's going to give away our position!" said the first voice.

"Number 22? That defective prototype who wandered away from the herd?"

"It looks like a woman and a human are with him!" said another voice.

"I see." said Verg.

"Should we help him?" asked the first voice.

"No, wait." said Verg. "Let them kill him. Let the Blues kill him!"

Mutio's mouth opened wide in sheer horror, and then she barred her teeth in disgust.

"Terrible, isn't it?" asked Paolo, once the recording ended. "It's just fortunate that I was able to save the recording before it was lost forever. I thought it was something you'd want to listen to."

Paolo grimaced wickedly, as he began his mech's self-destruct sequence.

"Pleasant thoughts, little mermaid." he said.

The cockpit's lights turned red and began to flash, and an alarm sounded. But even as it did, he ignored the Warning messages on his cockpit's interface, and howled with laughter to the very end. Mutio panicked, and swam back up to Blue-6. There was a large explosion underneath her, which she didn't stop to look down at. Paolo was no longer worth her attention. Verg was.

* * *

In a darkly-lit metal room, a woman was sitting at a couch with her EROS-powered laptop laying next to her. She was wearing light brown slip-on sneakers, dark green gloves and socks, tan pants, and a weather-worn green hoodie, with her head covered by its rectangular hood. The only light source was the laptop screen, which illuminated her face. She had no real emotion on this face, other than what most people would consider boredom. But of course, she could hardly be qualified as "most people", at least nowadays.

An alarm suddenly sounded, and the video she was playing paused and minimized itself to show a lockdown message on the screen. The phosphorescent lights in the room were automatically turned on.

"Warning! Warning!" Lucya's voice could be heard on the loudspeakers.

"Oh, what now?" asked the woman, with a dry tone in her deep, almost masculine voice. "This better not be a drill."

Suddenly, there were heavy footfalls, followed by a loud battering of the door behind her. The door was ripped apart by large, muscular arms. A small cloud of pale green nerve gas entered the room as Verg lumbered inside. The woman wasn't remotely concerned about the nerve gas, and was only mildly surprised by Verg's presence.

"You! Human!" Verg shouted, pointing a finger at the woman. "Tell me how I get out of here!"

The woman threw back her hood, revealing her dark blue-gray face. She had a tall forehead, square jaw, and black lips that hid twenty-eight pearly-white, flawless teeth. Her eyes had black schlera and glowing electric blue irises, with dark gray eyelids that had no lashes. She had wavy bluish-black hair, which was tied back into a low ponytail, and locks ran down in front of her lobeless ears.

"What...what the hell are you supposed to be?" Verg demanded, confused.

She scrutinized Verg, and deduced that he was extremely fatigued and exhausted, and even on the verge of losing consciousness due to the nerve gas. She stepped through this nerve gas, completely unaffected by it, when suddenly another hulking form appeared in the doorway. This one was about the same size as Verg, and just as broad and muscular, but was entirely mechanical and covered in black-and-silver armor plating. It grabbed Verg from behind by the arm, and twisted it behind his back. Verg cried out in pain, and turned to face it. The two wrestled each other, with Verg clawing and biting frantically at the large machine. But it was no use, as he could barely keep going. Slowly but surely, he passed out, and his large bestial form hit the floor with a loud thud.

"Disengage security protocols; Target is subdued." said the robot-man, with deep, booming electronic voice, to a nearby security camera.

The nerve gas quickly dissipated, and Lucya's voice chimed in:

"Security protocols disengaged." she said, joyfully. "Well done, NEROC! Our master will be so pleased."

"Note: Stronger nerve gasses must be installed in Site-G defense systems, in case of further incidents."

"I will be sure to remember that, NEROC." said Lucya's voice.

"NEROC, I presume?" asked the woman.

"Affirmative." replied NEROC.

"Well, good thing you arrived." said the woman. "I almost had to take him on myself. I haven't had time to give this new body of mine a warm-up."

"Continuing primary objective: Returning Verg to designated containment area." said NEROC. "Farewell, Kyra Lane. You may resume your previous activities."

NEROC lifted Verg over his head with impressive strength and speed, and carried him out of the room. As Kyra watched the large robot carry away the equally large Chimeran, she leered at the latter for a brief moment, before curving her lips into a sadistic grin.

"Sleep tight, shark-man." she said, coldly. "Whatever they have in store for you is the least of what you deserve. Hope you have some sweet dreams."

Then she slipped her hood back on, and went back to sitting on the couch.

"Lucya, lights off." she said, casually.

The room darkened again.

"All lights turned off." replied Lucya's voice on the loudspeakers.

* * *

Zorndyke sat on a fallen tree trunk, his back to the sea. Amonyushuu, eleven years and ten months old, was sitting at his right side. She was leaning back curiously, her almond eyes wide open as she listened to her father talk.

"For you see, though the two lovers themselves had perished, their deaths inspired their families to end their senseless feud and make amends with one another. And there was peace between them from then on. So even something bad can still lead to something good. Do you understand now, my dear?"

"Yes, papa." said Amonyushuu. "I think I like the story a little more now."

Then she frowned a little.

"Why are you so sad?" asked Zorndyke, who was frowning himself.

"Where is my brother?" Amonyushuu asked. "I would like to play a game with him, if that's all right."

"I told you. Verg has to be away from time to time. He has his own life too, you know."

There was a series of ripples and splashes behind them, and the two turned around to watch the hulking, muscular form of Verg emerge from the water, wearing his longcoat, body armor, and metallic head-brace. He lumbered through the water towards Zorndyke, a human skull in his right claw.

"I killed him, papa!" shouted Verg, joyfully. "And I even brought his skull to prove it!"

Zorndyke sighed, while Amonyushuu stared in slight disgust at the skull. Zorndyke gestured for her to look away, as he slowly stood up and walked towards Verg. He took the skull from his claw to closely inspect it. The skull had multiple scorches, scars, and cracks. Nearly all the teeth were lost and there were only a few sinews keeping the jaw connected.

"Verg, what is this?"

"It's the skull of Admiral Bayard. Remember? He was with Blue Fleet."

"Yes, I'm aware of that man." Zorndyke said, still frowning.

"He rammed into my ship outside Shin Sekai City, and there was a huge explosion. I was lucky to make it out, but after I did, I was able to enter the wreckage of his submarine and take his skull from the remains of his corpse. There was barely anything left of him when I got to him! Lucky me, right?"

"Yes, yes, lucky you." said Zorndyke. "Now please put it away somewhere."

Verg was dumbstruck.

"Put it away?" he repeated.

"Yes. In fact, just get rid of it." said Zorndyke. "You've already given me so many skulls as it is, and I appreciate the work you put into killing our enemies. But I don't want your sister to see any of this."

Zorndyke gave the skull back to Verg, who took it in his claw and glared into its empty eye-sockets and through the large hole in the back of the skull. Verg growled and stormed off down the shore into the dense layer of fog beyond.

"Papa, don't you think Verg seems upset?" asked Amonyushuu.

"The boy always seems upset about something." said Zorndyke.

"Maybe I should go check on him. Bye, papa."

Amonyushuu stood up and followed after Verg into the fog. She walked no more than sixty paces behind Verg, who walked back into the water and went out a little bit. Amonyushuu stopped when Verg cried out in frustration and threw Bayard's skull far, and until it hit the water twenty meters away, where it descended into the depths of the Southern Ocean. Then he started kicking rocks out of the water, and bent down to throw even more rocks into the ocean. All the while he was grunting and shouting obscenities at his surroundings. While most would have been inclined to steer clear of Verg during one of his meltdowns, Amonyushuu did not feel the least bit intimidated. She waded at a relaxed pace into the water until she was less than a yard from him, showing no signs of distress or fear.

"Verg, is something the matter?" she asked him.

Verg abruptly stopped in mid-throw of the latest rock he had picked up, and turned to face his younger sibling, dropping the stone back into the water.

"No." he lied. "Nothing's wrong."

"You seemed very upset." said Amonyushuu. "Is there something you want to talk about, brother?"

Verg marched through the water, until he was immediately in front of Amonyushuu. Even though he was more than twice her height and at least three times her width, she still kept a straight face.

"I told you." he growled through clenched, razor-sharp teeth. "Nothing...is...wrong."

Amonyushuu's eyes stayed wide open, unblinking. Verg may not have been the most intelligent of Zorndyke's creations but he knew that Amonyushuu was studying his body language and facial expressions. He was about to open his mouth and tell her to stop looking at him like that, when she spoke:

"So would you like to play a game with me?" she smiled hopefully.

Verg sighed.

"No." he said. "I have too much on my mind as it is. Just back to your damn poetry. It's what papa would want you to do. As for me, I need to go find another wrecked vessel to attach to the Phantom Ship. The last one was badly damaged when Submarine X attacked it. Now go. Just go, and stay out of my..."

* * *

Verg opened his eyes, his vision was blurry, and the fact that he was staring into a large bright screen didn't make it any better.

"Not this again." he grumbled.

But to his shock, it wasn't Arkulus' face on the screen, it was Zorndyke's. He looked absolutely furious, unlike Verg had ever seen him before.

"Papa?" he whispered in surprise. "Is it you?"

"For the last time, Gregor..." growled Zorndyke. "I will _not_ change my mind on this! Nothing you could say, and nothing anyone else can say will convince me otherwise."

"You are planning to commit genocide on a scale that hasn't been seen since the Second World War." said a voice that sounded very similar to Arkulus. "Don't you realize that what you are doing is the work of a madman? Of a tyrant?"

Zorndyke's glasses flashed furiously in the shaft of sunlight he was sitting in.

"Don't you dare call me a tyrant, Gregor." said Zorndyke. "I have known tyranny all my life! I come from a city where you could find bunkers-thousands of them!-in every park, on every street corner. They were not built to protect the citizens, but to protect one man from his paranoid delusions. A man who would turn on his allies for the pettiest reasons, and would sooner let his own country collapse around him than let anyone else lead it in his place."

"Listen, Jung." said Gregor. "Do you think you are the only one that has lived through a terrible regime? I come from one of many countries where everyone was forced to work to make a decent living, with no exceptions for those that were impaired in any way. Where you couldn't express any sort of free speech in public, only in the privacy and safety of your own homes. Where you weren't even allowed to leave that group of nations for any reason. Not even to visit family on the other side of the Iron Curtain. And I won't begin to go into detail about Chernobyl. To this day, I still have radiation scars from when the government sent me there."

"You're only giving more reasons to hate humanity, Gregor." said Zorndyke.

"The point I'm trying to make, Jung, is that despite these horrors and misdeeds, I have been able to maintain a long, healthy life. I had a family too, before I also lost to circumstances that were beyond my control. We all have dead loved ones, Jung. But that is no excuse to get everyone else dead, too."

Zorndyke calmed himself down, and sighed.

"I am not looking for excuses, Gregor." he said. "Nor am I looking for reasons, justifications, or alibis. I'm doing this only because I must. This is inevitable. If I don't destroy humanity, humanity will destroy themselves, and bring the rest of the world with them. But don't despair. When I am done, there will still be life on this planet, for those that rightfully deserve it. Good-bye, my old friend. And good luck."

And then Zorndyke's face was gone from the screen.

"That was the last time your creator and I ever spoke to each other." said Arkulus' voice. "And then shortly afterwards, he went on to senselessly kill billions of innocent men, women, and children. Just to prove something to those that were left."

"Oh, do go on..." Verg rolled his eyes.

"I too have my own problems with humanity." said Arkulus. "I have seen toxicity and corruption in government and society for the last nine decades, and tasted all of its flavors. Communists, Capitalists, Neo-Nazis, religious extremists, left-wingers, right-wingers, sociopaths, psychopaths, and so many other I can scarcely begin to describe. But there are still people out there to be cared for, that are worth saving. The problem your creator made was not showing you the good before showing you the bad. By showing you nothing but the horror of humanity, you are inclined to believe that there is nothing about humanity worth saving. Thankfully, he did not make that mistake with your sister. I only regret that I haven't had a chance to speak with her..only with you."

"Keep her out of this." said Verg. "I don't think she's worth all this trouble."

"Think whatever you want, boy." said Arkulus. "But I would still rather speak to her than a gargantuan fool like yourself. If there's anything good that has ever come out of you, it's that you inspired my greatest robotic soldier. I believe you've already met NEROC."

A hatch opened up in the floor in front of Verg's feet, and then the large robotic humanoid emerged from it on a lift.

"The North European Robotic Optimized Commando. He is a one-of-a-kind prototype, and the perfect soldier."

"Verg, I am designed and programmed to be your equal in every way." added NEROC. "But I can think faster and remember more than any organic being on this planet."

"Machines can't think!" argued Verg.

"My machines can." said Arkulus. "NEROC can think independently and is fully sentient, just like Lucya, just like any human or Chimeran. Machines with his capabilities are my life's work. You can open him up, but you won't find any inhibitor chip or failsafe mechanisms on him, or in any other machine I build. Would you place some kind of failsafe into your own children? That is how they follow my commands, because they know they can trust me. And I trust them in return. Can you say Zorndyke ever gave his creations that same amount of trust, even to you? No, he has to use machines to program them to obey his commands. To obey _your_ commands!"

"Enough talking!" said Verg. "I'm going to beat that stupid machine of yours until it is nothing more than scrap metal."

"That will have to wait." said Arkulus. "Once I have made a few stops, I am coming to collect you personally. While I tire of conversing with you, there are others that would prefer to have you in their possession...alive or dead."

"Who could he be talking about?" Verg wondered to himself.


	32. Origin of Arkulus, Part 1

As soon as Arkulus finished speaking with Verg, he sat down in a chair, with his head in his gloved, bony hands. He closed his eyes, and began shaking in silent anger.

"Sir, I was thinking about NEROC." Lucya chimed in. "I couldn't help but notice how similar he and Verg are in size, proportions, and general build. Was that intentional?"

Arkulus raised his head from his hands.

"Yes." he said. "I created him to be my counterpart to Verg. If Verg can be considered Zorndyke's son, then NEROC is mine. Of course, I didn't make the same mistake Zorndyke did by raising him to be a mindless, immature brute. No, NEROC is thankfully above such behavior."

"And what about me, sir?" asked Lucya, curiously. "Am I your daughter? Zorndyke had a daughter, too. That cat-girl..."

This question pierced Arkulus like a bullet. He started breathing uneasily.

"Is something troubling you?" Lucya asked, before quickly adding with a concerned whisper: "Oh, maybe I shouldn't have asked that question."

"It's fine, Lucya." said Arkulus. "I have the answer to that question. It's very complicated, though. It may take me a while before I can explain..."

He blinked, and his eyes watered slightly.

"Take all the time you need, sir." said Lucya, gently. "I am patient; after all, that's how you programmed me."

Arkulus bitterly mumbled something in Ukrainian.

"Master, is something the matter?" asked Lucya's voice.

"I am all right, Lucya, just anxious." answered Arkulus, stiffly. "It is perfectly normal for humans to feel this way, especially when they reach my age. At least the ones that are fortunate enough to reach my age."

"Is there anything you would like me to do for you?" asked Lucya, concerned.

"No thank you." said Arkulus. "I will be fine. How long until we reach our destination?"

"It should be just under two hours."

"Enough time to rest, hopefully." said Arkulus. "Just keep the craft in full working order while I sleep."

"Rest is always good, sir." said Lucya in agreement.

Arkulus accessed the lift, and took it two levels up. He exited the lift, and walked down a long narrow corridor to his bedroom. The room contained a desk with an EROS computer for personal use along with a black egg-shaped object, a long bed built to accommodate his height, a plasma television set on one wall, and a shelf lined with books and various video cases. Arkulus sat down on the bed, and sighed.

"Lucya, inform me fifteen minutes in advance before we arrive." said Arkulus. "And turn the lights off."

"Yes, sir." said Lucya, with a kind tone in her silky-smooth voice. "If you need anything, I will always be here to help you."

"Thank you, my dear _dochka_..." muttered Arkulus, smiling as best as he could without straining his mouth.

Once the lights were off, Arkulus began removing pieces of his outfit, except for his mask. Gloves, then pauldrons, then kneepads, then neck-brace, and so on. The more pieces he removed, the weaker and frailer he began to feel. This was because his outfit had multiple braces and layers of armor plating to reinforce his elderly body. He ached not only because of his advanced age, but also because his skin on the arms, legs, and chest were still covered with radiation scars, even after so many decades had passed. His skin felt even worse when it was exposed to the elements. His irregularly curved spine didn't help matters, either. Then he painstakingly disassembled his headgear. This strained him most of all, and for a brief moment, he had trouble breathing; He began wheezing and coughing. He opened a cabinet next to his bed, and took out a pillbox. He opened it, and bit into a small orange tablet that immediately turned to liquid in his mouth. Upon swallowing the liquid, he felt calm and relaxed, and he stopped coughing. He quickly fell asleep.

His mind left behind the cold, dark metal environment of the airship, and traveled back through the distant past to the bright, hot deserts of Afghanistan. The silence of the airship was replaced by the mixed chatter of Russian, Georgian, and Ukrainian over the sounds of large vehicles driving along a rocky surface, accompanied by blaring rock music from a nearby radio, with the lyrics sung in Russian. Arkulus opened his eyes, and he found himself standing in front of a large Kamaz truck. He lifted up the hood, and went to work on the engine. After a moment, he looked up at the vibrant blue sky, devoid of clouds or birds, then behind him to a group of soldiers in tan uniforms, armed with a variety of AK-series assault rifles, Dragunov sniper rifles, and a couple of RPK machine guns, all with Makarov PM pistols holstered on their belts.

"How is the work so far, Grigori?" one of the soldiers asked in Russian, staring Arkulus in the eyes. "The colonel would be furious if our vehicles weren't all finished yet!"

Grigori nodded, then inspected himself. His dark brown jumpsuit was itching from all the sand and dust that had been kicked up by the moving vehicles all around them. He brushed off whatever he could with his long fingers, then studied his wrench to make sure it was fit for further use. Some of the other soldiers were staring at him, noting the unusual proportions of his tall, thin body and judging him irrationally. He was quite used to this, by now.

"Look!" said one of the soldiers, pointing up at the sky.

Grigori heard the sounds of a helicopter's rotary blades spinning overhead. An Mi-8 helicopter gunship passed over the truck, and easily outstripped the entire column of tanks, APCs, and trucks that were driving down a nearby road as it raced towards a range of snow-capped mountains in the distance. As Grigori's eyes followed the helicopter, he noticed the T-72 tank at the front of the column, bearing a red flag with the yellow hammer-and-sickle. The hatch atop the tank opened up, and a soldier emerged from it. He took out his binoculars and began scanning the cliffs surrounding the road for possible targets. So far, there was nothing there.

"You! Giant!" said a soldier standing right next to Grigori, with a mocking tone in his voice. "You better try keeping your head down. You're so tall, some rebel with a sniper rifle will probably take you out first!"

The soldier and another sitting opposite him started laughing.

"Ignore them, Grigori." said the first soldier, coming closer. "They are idiots. Probably had too much vodka this morning."

"I can take whatever they say, Dmitri." said Grigori. "We in the Ukraine have a saying: 'Those who laugh at you, also cry for you.'"

The rock music blared on, but Grigori began to hear even more aircraft above. A flight of MiG-29 fighter jets flew over them in a V-formation, quickly passing over them. Dmitri leaned forward, noticing how much Grigori was shifting nervously in place.

"Hey, Grigori." said Dmitri. "Are you scared at all? Scared of being killed out here?"

"Yes." nodded Grigori. "It is only human of me to fear death. Yet here I am, repairing military vehicles for the glorious Soviet Union."

Dmitri laughed heartily.

"Oh, Grigori." he said. "I thought you Ukrainians had a saying...'The fear of death takes away the joy of living.', or something like that."

"That would be the first time I ever heard of it." Grigori muttered, with a frown.

"Well, instead of worrying that you'll be killed in battle, why not be grateful you've had the opportunity to serve in the most powerful military in the world?"

Grigori shifted uneasily in place as he continued working on the truck's engine. After a few minutes of tinkering, he finally got it running again. Just in time, since the colonel was now walking up to him.

"Is the truck fixed yet?"

"Da, comrade." Grigori said, with an awkward nod. "It is finished. My work here is done."

"Excellent, comrade." said the colonel. "It's impressive how much you have done around here. If it weren't for your...condition...I would say we could use someone like you on the frontlines. You can never tell how well our hardware will work out here in Afghanistan."

"On the contrary, Colonel Ivanov." said Grigori. "I would argue that our hardware will easily outlast the men that use it."

"Da, you speak the truth." frowned Ivanov. "Damn this weather! If only men could be built to last like machines, then maybe they could continue fighting in this arid land. Now if you will excuse me, it is time for the soldiers to do their job."

Grigori nodded slowly, then gave the colonel a salute. The colonel turned to face his men, without heeding Grigori. Grigori slunked off to work on another vehicle.

"For the glory of the Soviet Union and our magnificent leader, Premier Gorbachev!" said Colonel Ivanov to his men. "It is time to stamp out these Afghan rebels, and crush them beneath the iron fist of the great Soviet war machine!"

The soldiers all cheered aloud.

"Now go out there, and destroy all resistance you encounter! Show no mercy, for they will show no mercy in return! Dismissed!"

Then Colonel Ivanov turned to look at Grigori, who had been standing idly and listening.

"And what are you still doing here?" he demanded. "We have more vehicles that need fixing! Now move it!"

"Da, comrade." saluted Grigori, exhausted.

Then there was an explosion on the other side of the encampment. Several of the personnel that were present rushed over to investigate the disturbance.

"What in the name of Josef Stalin was that?!" demanded Ivanov.

He was answered by multiple bursts of gunfire in the distance, supplemented by raised voices and thundering hoof-falls. Dozens of horse-riding men in primitive desert garb and rags rode through the encampment. Some armed with scimitars that they used to slash at the personnel they rode past, and others with antiquated Russian-made firearms that they discharged at anyone who would fire at them. The entire installation erupted in combat, with Soviets running out of nearby building to engage the mounted intruders.

"It's the Mujahideen!" yelled Dmitri, raising his AK-74 assault rifle.

He unloaded a third of his rifle's magazine into the nearest horseman, whose bullet-ridden corpse fell from his steed, while the horse itself galloped away in a panic. Dmitri ran after the horse to try and mount it, but it easily outran him. Then he rushed off to aid his comrades in battle.

"Take cover!" shouted Ivanov, brandishing his Makarov pistol.

He emptied half a clip into another horseman, this time taking the horse down with its rider. A third horse man knocked Ivanov aside and galloped up to Grigori. Thinking quickly, he stepped aside and dodged a shot fired from the rider's Mosin-Nagant M1959 carbine. Then thinking even more quickly, he took notice of the Tokarev TT-30 pistol holstered on the rider's belt, and grabbed it (due to Grigori's height and long arms, he was able to reach the man's belt without much difficulty) as he passed him by. Grigori flicked the gun's safety and shot the rider in the back of the head with a single shot. The rider was instantly killed, slain by his own sidearm, and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Grigori looked on in awe, as the lifeless body hit the ground. This rebel was perhaps the first person he had ever killed in his life. But before he could dwell too long on it, a shot rang out and the Tokarev pistol was blasted clear out of his hand. Another mounted Afghan closed in on him, dropping his now empty SKS carbine and replacing it with a curved scimitar with a blood-stained blade. Since neither Grigori nor this newcomer had any projectile weapons, Grigori chose to step aside again and grab the rider in his arms as he passed by. With impressive strength, or perhaps adrenaline, Grigori grabbed the scimitar-wielding rider by the waist and yanked him off his steed. The rider's struggling made Grigori lose his balance, and the two tumbled to the ground, wrestling with each other. But despite being the larger of the two, Grigori was quickly overpowered by his enemy, who had him pinned to the rocky surface and was in the process of brandishing a serrated knife to finish him off.

 _BANG!_

The Afghan keeled over, and Grigori was able to see that Colonel Ivanov had gotten back up, and was aiming a smoking pistol at the Afghan's back. He said nothing, just panted exhaustively as he fired another shot into the man's back. Dmitri came running up to Grigori, helping him back to his feet.

"Are you okay?" Dmitri asked.

"Da, I am fine." nodded Grigori.

"Good." said Dmitri, turning to Ivanov.

Then just like that, the gunfire around them ceased, and the galloping was becoming more and more distant. Three Russian soldiers ran up to them.

"Sir, we've driven them off." said one of them. "We gunned down thirteen of them before the others fled. Then we shot five more before they got out of range of our guns. With your word, we'll send out a squad to finish the rest off."

"Permission granted." nodded Ivanov. "How many have we lost?"

"Seven dead, ten wounded."

"Damn those rebels!" spat Ivanov.

A Soviet military officer came running up to Colonel Ivanov, holding an envelope in his hand.

"Comrade Ivanov, I have terrible news from Moscow!" he said, panting.

"What is it, captain?" asked Ivanov.

"It seems a horrible accident happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine." said the officer. "All of Pripyat and the surrounding area has been covered in nuclear fallout, and the entire city has been forced to clear out."

"Acknowledged, captain. Send word back to higher-up that we will send a team of specialists to help with the situation."

Ivanov paused and looked around, noticing the dead bodies scattered across the base.

"And also that we need reinforcements for ourselves."

"Da, colonel." the officer said, with a quick salute.

"Grigori!" shouted Ivanov. "Front and center, immediately!"

Grigori walked up to them, and it was then that it became apparent how much he towered over both men.

"A fine job you did with those rebels." said Ivanov. "I gravely underestimated you. I think that despite your condition, you deserve a spot in our armed forces after all."

Grigori nodded, uncomfortably.

"Thank you, sir." said Grigori. "But I would rather go back to my homeland and help the people of Pripyat."

"Are you sure, comrade?" asked Ivanov. "You have potential to be a great soldier. With the proper training, that is."

"I've made up my mind, sir." said Grigori. "I prefer to help people, not kill them. Even if there _are_ those that will try to kill me."

"Then I will get you back to the Ukraine the next chance I get." said Ivanov. "I am going to send a detachment to help manage the situation in Pripyat. I want you to be a part of it."

Ivanov walked up to Grigori and stared directly into his eyes. Grigori's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"When do I leave?"

* * *

"Now!" shouted a hazmat-clad Ukrainian man with a megaphone, from the bottom of the building Grigori was standing on top of. "Get down here now! You've been up there long enough!"

Grigori, wearing a hazmat suit and gas mask himself, ran frantically back to the door downstairs, followed by a group of similarly-dressed men carrying shovels and cleaning tools in their gloved hands. He and his fellow workers had been cleaning up the graphite from the roof of Chernobyl reactor number three for less than a minute, and he was already suffering from a terrible pins-and-needles sensation on his face and hands, and he felt a strange metallic taste on his tongue, even though he hadn't consumed anything since he entered Pripyat. He had to get back to a safe area before he succumbed to the radiation.

"Send in the next team of bio-robots!" the supervisor shouted into his megaphone after Grigori's team had come back to ground level.

Another group of workers in hazmat suits were entering the building to take their place. Grigori began shaking all over, completely exhausted and stressed. He looked around at the desolated, radioactive wasteland that was once the town of Pripyat, at the dark sky thick with greenish-gray clouds. A nearby Geiger counter was ticking wildly.

"Oh...Oh my god!" groaned one of Grigori's co-workers. "I feel so sick! Please! I think I need medicine!"

"Grigori, take him to the medics!" said the supervisor. "Hurry, before he collapses!"

Grigori hurried over to help the injured worker, and walked him down the gray, dust-covered street. As they walked towards the medical tent a few blocks down, they could hear a series of horrible noises: The sound of an injured dog whimpering, followed by the blasts of a shotgun. The whimpering turned into a quick yelp before abruptly stopping altogether. Then there were the sobbing of what was unmistakably an infant, who was seen being pushed in a stroller by a liquidator that passed them by. From a brief glimpse inside the stroller, Grigori saw that the infant's clothing was reduced to mere gray rags, and almost all of its flesh was burned and scarred from prolonged exposure to radiation.

The worker then stumbled over the irradiated corpse of a fallen civilian, and started coughing and retching. He couldn't help but remove his gas mask so that he could vomit on the ground. His eyes began watering and he cried out in pain. It was then that Grigori saw that the worker was a very young man with straw hair, probably no more than seventeen years old, making him even younger than Grigori himself.

"I can't take this!" he wept. "I...I can't! I just wanna go home! I just want to go back home!"

"Put your mask back on!" said Grigori. "It's dangerous to go without it!"

"Help me..." the worker said. "Please help me."

"Put your mask on! Now!"

But the worker was feeling very weak. Too weak and fatigued to obey. So Grigori had to frantically grab the mask on the ground and fit it on him. But by the time he got it on, the worker already collapsed.

"Damn!" Grigori cursed. "Come on! We need to get you-"

Then there was a loud growling behind them. The wall of a nearby house broke in two, and a feral-looking dog bolted towards Grigori and the man he was guiding to shelter. The dog made a leap at them both, knocking Grigori off his feet. The dog clawed at him, causing him to cry out in pain as its claws ripped through the protective covering of his mask and suit, exposing his body to radiation.

 _BANG!_

The dog fell over dead, its blood gushing out of a newly opened wound in its back. A gas-masked, hazmat-clad figure with a MTs 21-12 shotgun was standing behind where the dog previously stood. It was clearly one of the local hunters that had been hired by the Soviet government to hunt and kill the animals that were left behind when word of the disaster reached them.

"Are you two all right?" the figure asked them, speaking with a muffled but unmistakably female voice.

"Forget me!" Grigori replied, pointing at the fallen worker. "Help this man! I don't know how long he will last out here."

Grigori and the hunter both went over to the worker to help him back to his feet, and hurried him to the medical tent. Just in time, since now Grigori himself was beginning to feel weak and even sick. They rushed into the tent, and then...

* * *

Arkulus opened his eyes, abruptly ending the dream. He was back in the personal quarters of his airship, in the present. He slowly sat up in his bed, and rubbed the sweat out of his long hair.

"Lucya, have we reached our destination?" he called out.

"ETA is still another twenty minutes." replied Lucya's voice. "I was about five minutes from waking you, sir, just as you instructed. How was your sleep?"

"I...I've had those dreams again."

"Afghanistan or Chernobyl, sir?"

"Both."

"I'm sorry to hear that, sir." said Lucya.

"It's all right, Lucya." said Arkulus. "It was so long ago. But I still have my health...for the most part."

He coughed a little.

"Did you forget to take your medication?" asked Lucya, teasingly and playfully.

Arkulus could tell this question would've been delivered with a smirk if Lucya had a visible face. But Arkulus merely chuckled. Even then, he did not attempt to smile, since it would have hurt him to do so.

"Of course not, my dear." he said, hoarsely. "When a human gets to be my age, they can't afford to make mistakes like that."

"Definitely not, sir." agreed Lucya.

"Lucya, could you turn the lights on?"

The lights in the room were gradually turned back on, in order to be gentle on Arkulus' eyes.

"Done, sir." said Lucya. "We still have eighteen minutes and thirty-two seconds before the estimated time of arrival."

Arkulus nodded slowly, then began reassembling his black outfit and headgear. Once he had finished putting his outfit back on, he stood upright, and looked around the room. When he saw the egg-shaped device on the desk, he walked over to it and sat down in the tall chair. Immediately, he began inspecting the egg-shaped device. He took out a multi-tool from a compartment on the desk's underside, and opened up the device. Even though the work would have been tedious for some, Arkulus seemed completely in his element as he went to work, like a toy-maker in his workshop.

Once he was done, he closed every hatch and made sure the screws were back in their holes. He then pressed a button on the apex of the device, and it started to light up. The device unfolded, revealing a round and featureless head what was once the side and eight spindly metal legs. It was a spider-drone, designed for utility and maintenance of the airship's lower levels. This one had been malfunctioning, so Arkulus took it back to his room to repair it himself. He had all but forgotten about it though, due to the recent goings-on down below on the ground.

"Any errors now?" asked Arkulus.

The spider-drone emitted a low-pitched beep, which almost sounded like a "No".

"Good."

Arkulus picked up the spider-drone with his hand, and set him on the floor.

"Back to work." he said to it.

The spider-drone approached a small door in the corner of the room. This was a maintenance hatch designed for spider-drones and machines of similar size to travel to specific rooms across the airship without using the main corridors. The hatch-doors were also vital for managing vermin and potential saboteurs, since they were constantly patrolled by similar drones and other security defenses.

"Opening hatch 4-12." said Lucya's voice, just as the hatch door opened and the spider-drone slipped in through a rectangular tunnel lined with glowing neon lights.

After the hatch door closed itself again, Arkulus left the room, ready for whatever awaited him next.


End file.
